


Falling into Her Trap

by LeilaSmash



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, ALL THE GAY, CuriousArcher, Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff, MadArcher - Freeform, Slow Burn, a bit humorous, all about robin being sneaky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:48:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 26,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25253356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeilaSmash/pseuds/LeilaSmash
Summary: Alice has been getting more and more deliveries from her papa lately, and she's not sure who is bringing them.
Relationships: Alice | Tilly & Robin | Margot, Alice | Tilly/Robin | Margot
Comments: 55
Kudos: 84





	1. In the Windchimes

Deep in the woods of the Enchanted Forest, next to an idyllic field with a small stream running through, sat the cutest cottage Alice had ever seen. At least in this realm. The portal-jumper had come across this run down little shack full of holes and close to collapse, and she just couldn’t help herself. She had a penchant for fixing up broken things and making them not necessarily like new, but better than new in her opinion. Like the umbrella she had rescued from a tree in Wonderland and patched up with ribbons and colorful swatches of fabric.  
The house had taken considerably more time than the umbrella, the first few days consumed by assessing and making a list of which repairs were needed straight away and which could be done at her leisure during the colder months. In all, it had taken her the entirety of the summer and fall just to get the outside mended enough to survive the sometimes brutal winters she had come to expect from the Enchanted Forest. Winter had been a slower affair; bitter cold days of scrubbing floors and painting walls; evenings spent crocheting and knitting trinkets and clothes to sell at the market on the odd warm day. Alice had managed to save a bit of money during her adventures and she used this to buy some simple furniture from a local farmer who was skilled at carpentry on the side. Nothing fancy, just a double bed (she liked to stretch out, starfish style), a small armoire, a chair, and a table set. She had a basic setup and she was content with her life most days.  
But on those nights when she could hear the wind howling to get in, the sweet summer days when the heat was just enough to warrant a good nap by the stream, those were the times she missed her papa the most. Her heart ached when she closed her eyes, wishing he was there to do even the most mundane of tasks, like catching fish for dinner or gathering firewood. Things they had never been able to do together when she was stuck in that dreadful tower. Things she feared they would never be able to share with the curse upon their hearts.  
So she was alone the majority of her days, with only an occasional courier stopping by to bring her the odd letter or package from her sorely missed papa. Alice tried her best to savor every little piece of him she was given, never quite sure when the next would arrive at her doorstep. And that was how she passed the time.

Then the mystery started.

Alice did not know exactly when the unknown person began delivering her mail to her doorstep; it wasn’t unusual for the courier to leave her packages on the doorstep, if she was out in the forest or at the market when they stopped by her home. It was strange, however, for them to leave it on the rocking chair she had purchased when spring came. Or perched on the handrail of the porch. Or stuffed inside the windchimes she had bartered her last larkspur for in Arendelle. That was an odd one indeed. After she found a small box of sweets balanced on the birdhouse tacked to a tree in her front yard, Alice resolved to speak to this elusive harbinger, if only to ask them to put the packages at a slightly lower height so she wouldn’t have to resort to making a stack of logs to reach her mail. The blonde wasn’t short persay, but eight feet off the ground seemed a bit excessive.

She made a plan. She would stay by the front window and wait. She would take all her meals there, she would sleep there, she would read there. She would have words with this mystery person and get to the bottom of this issue. Her papa seemed to have found this person reliable in some sense, as she began receiving things more and more often, at least once a week at that point. If only she could get the courier to be a bit more considerate.

For three days she waited with baited breath, only leaving her spot to use the bathroom or whip up a quick meal, darting back and forth as quickly as she could. She refused to miss her next delivery.

_Whump._

Alice shot up from where she had been resting her eyes on her folded arms. How long had she been asleep? She hadn’t meant to nap, but the sun had been shining just right through the glass, creating a little pocket of warmth that any forest creature would have curled right up inside. Her blue eyes blinked slowly, trying to process the change in light (it was close to suppertime now, if the sun was any indication). She suddenly remembered what awoke her in the first place. Nearly tripping over her own feet, Alice burst through the front door, eyes wild and searching everywhere for any slight marker that her mystery person had been there.  
She almost missed it.

Jutting out from a porch column just above her eye-line, was an arrow with a roll of parchment coiled around it. Alice would have laughed had she not been so upset with herself for falling asleep. Stretching out on her tiptoes and hopping a little bit (a few times), she was just able to wrap her hand around the shaft of the arrow, muttering curses under her breath about how she would need to get a good step-ladder if this nonsense continued much longer.

 _SNAP!_  


Alice landed triumphantly with a thud, back end of the cracked arrow in hand.  
“Oof! Gotcha!” Carefully untying the bright blue ribbon wrapped around the note (when had her papa started doing that?), she unravelled the parchment. A smaller piece of colored paper dropped out, landing on the toe of her bare foot. Alice purposefully ignored it, choosing to read her papa’s words before acknowledging anything that trickster courier may have left her. She twice re-read his letter detailing his latest exploits with his new pirate crew, noting he seemed to be a bit happier these days. He ended his letter like always though, lamenting their distance and promising to continue his search for a cure. Alice sighed, hoping against hope that one day he could tell her that in person, without having to be a hundred yards away.  
Finally she bent down to grab the note, trying to stay as nonchalant as possible. No need to rush, right? Just an ordinary note from an ordinary person who has been sneaking around her house delivering mail in an unusual fashion. No big deal.

_Nice try!_  
_PS. Hope you like blue._


	2. Tiny Hops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice's days get more interesting.

“Okay, this should catch him!” Alice carefully set the trip wire to her latest trap, an elaborate set of noisemakers that would alert her of any movement near the house. She brushed off her knees and stood to admire her handiwork. Sure, it wasn’t her best work, but it would have to do. If she was right about the frequency of the mysterious courier’s visits, she had just a few hours until the next drop-off. “Now to go about my day as usual so as not to rouse suspicion.”

Alice traipsed back towards the cottage, grabbing her broom on the way in. Floors could use a good sweeping while she waited. 

She had just finished pushing the last of the dirt out the back door when she heard the telltale clanging of her trap. Swiftly abandoning her broom on the back steps, Alice ran around to the front of the house towards where she had run the trip line. 

Sitting in a tiny pile next to her homemade tin-can noisemakers, was her latest delivery. The blonde quickly circled the area, first with her eyes and then actually walked the perimeter looking for any sign, any track she could follow that would lead her to her mystery man. Alas, nothing. 

Going back to the little pile, she noted there was a parchment roll as usual (this time tied with a light green ribbon), a little crate of fruit, and a small folded paper box roughly six inches by four. Her heart beat strangely faster when she saw the extra gift, for some reason excited that it may be from the puzzling messenger himself. Alice loved a good mystery, and relished a good challenge even more, so these last couple months had been like a game of cat and mouse for her. She had to admit she had been less depressed lately, having something else to take her mind off her usual troubles. 

“Let’s bring you inside, shall we? I do hope Papa sent me some of those mangos he’s been on about…” Alice let herself ponder what types of wonderful fruit her papa had sent while she lugged everything back through the front door and set the pile down on the kitchen table with a loud thunk. 

Throwing her feet up on the front rail of the porch, Alice leaned back in her rocking chair and bit into a ripe peach. She carefully unrolled the parchment, trying her best to focus on her papa’s words but her thoughts kept straying to the box she purposefully left on the table inside. She gave herself twenty minutes to try to concentrate on her father’s good news at having gotten his ship repaired after a particularly nasty bout with the royal navy of some far off kingdom. Listening to the seconds ticking by on her second-favorite pocket watch was driving her a bit madder than usual and she lasted almost the whole twenty. 

_Tick tick tick tick tick_

“Oh look! Papa has a new lead on that horrid witch that cursed us! She’s supposedly my mother you know.” She said aloud to a squirrel that had taken up a seat on the railing by her left foot. 

_Tick tick tick_

“And Mr. Smee got a new bobble hat! How exciting! Good for him.” The squirrel tittered just a bit closer, seeming almost to be interested in what Alice was saying. Or maybe he was just interested in the second peach she had brought out with her.

_Tick tick tick tick tick_

“Papa has some new friends, how nice for him. I bet they-” She pushed her feet abruptly off the rail and jumped out of her seat. “Alright, that’s it. Can’t stand it anymore, I have to know what’s inside.”

The squirrel, having been startled from his spot, cautiously returned to scurry away with the abandoned peach.

“It’s just a silly box. Just a silly box left by a silly person. Just a silly box left by a silly person _for me._ ” Alice forced herself to act slowly, carefully separating the top of the box from the bottom.

Her breath caught.

Inside were two of the most adorable rabbits made of parchment, one an emerald green, the other a sky blue. Alice pulled each one out and stood them up on their hind legs, admiring the craftsmanship. The tiny little noses, the big floppy ears and equally floppy feet, the bushy cotton ball tails. It was then that she noticed two words just above the tail of the green rabbit. 

_Press Me_. 

Intrigued, Alice set the rabbit upright and gently pressed on the words with her index finger. To her delight, the rabbit jumped forward in a lifelike motion that made her want to do it over and over again. Which she did. Upon discovering the same writing on the blue rabbit, she began to make up little stories with them, wiling away the rest of the day enjoying her new paper friends. 

Alice spent the next thirty-nine days thinking up ingenious and cunning traps for her elusive friend, and in exchange, she also spent those thirty-nine days being amused and enchanted by the little knick-knacks and novelties she found waiting for her. 

Day forty was… interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO  
> Yes I know this was a quick update, but to be fair I already had this written and couldn't justify just letting it sit. 
> 
> also, yes it is short, but future chapters will be longer.


	3. Errand Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robin gets roped into a detour

“No. No way. I will _not_ be an errand girl for a pirate, I have my pride you know!” Robin was trying very, very hard to control the anger boiling up inside her. Today she woke up with a plan: grab her bow and arrows, raid the kitchen for snacks, and spend the day practicing shooting while in awkward positions. Like kneeling in a tree or upside-down. Or laying down. Just in case it was ever useful. Now she was being forced to play messenger for her mother’s weird hook-handed friend.

“It will barely take an hour out of your day, young lady. Nook has entrusted his correspondence with his daughter to me and the usual boy is home ill with some sort of common cold. While I could just go heal him, well, think of this as an opportunity to earn your keep around here.” Her mother’s deep emerald eyes flashed with amusement, knowing full-well what her daughter’s preferences were and how little she would protest any future delivery requests after today. Robin had never been exactly secretive about her dalliances, however she had yet to bring anyone “home to meet the parents” and Zelena had taken to catching up with the local barkeeps to stay in the know about her daughter’s… love life. When her daughter made no move to take the items, the older woman sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes, “Just drop the package at the doorstep and go on with whatever you had planned for your day. Gods forbid you do me a favor.”

“Fine.” Her daughter snatched the little box and parchment roll off the wooden kitchen table and began to storm out. She shouted a last retort from the front door, shouldering her bow and quiver, “But you may want to get to healing that boy because I’m not doing this again!” 

The trek to the spot her mother had circled on the map would take her more like an hour and a half just to get to and the archer was more than a little ticked about the whole thing. _Young lady_ ? Had her mother _really_ called her that? She scoffed. She was twenty-three, which would have definitely made her a young lady back in Storybrooke, but here that was glaringly not true. She’d had enough men tell her she ought to be settling down by now to fill her apparently looming spinster future. 

Robin pulled her cloak around her a bit more tightly, bracing herself against a sudden gust of bitter cold autumn air. Snow was only a couple months away, reminding Robin she still had half a larder to fill before the first snowflakes showed up. She hastened her pace, boots near silent on the spongy forest floor. The archer loved the fall, the color palette was by far her favorite. Orange, yellow, reds of every shade. Robin didn’t have a favorite color, but she imagined it would be some sort of red. She stopped for just a moment to take a deep breath, trying to purge herself of the ire from earlier. “You know you shoot better calm. Let it go Robin, let it go.”

After taking a few minutes to calm herself as much as she could, Robin trudged on towards her destination. 

Cresting over a particularly steep hill, the archer caught first sight of the cottage and couldn’t stop the snort from escaping her body. “You have _got_ to be kidding me! There is no way this is real!”

The picturesque little house could have been plucked out of a picture from Robin’s favorite storybook as a kid. It was quirky, covered in weird and eclectic items, and she wouldn’t have been surprised if the person living there had some sort of animal companion that they talked to constantly, but of course never talked back. A squirrel? A bird? No, no, a rabbit. Definitely a rabbit. Robin wanted so badly to hate this perfect little slice of the Enchanted Forest. And she almost did. 

Robin had just set the items she was tasked with down on the overly cheerful welcome mat, when she heard rustling not far away, off to the side of the house. In retrospect, there really was no need for her to hide, but she never was one for small talk if it could be avoided, something she no doubt inherited from her mother along with her quick wit. She rushed as quietly as she could back to the tree line, darting behind a large oak. Snaking her head around the massive trunk, Robin laid eyes on what was arguably the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen.

There, pushing a little wheelbarrow full to the brim with wood, was a head full of wild blonde hair attached to a gorgeous blue-eyed face, close enough that Robin could have stuck an arrow out and poked it. ' _And that body is quite the bonus.'_ She knocked her head against the scratchy bark for being so crass about someone she was quickly beginning to believe she may want to get to know better. ‘ _Geez, Robin, dial it back a bit. Stop undressing her with your eyes already and leave!’_ Robin kept trying to kick herself into gear, but her feet seemed rooted to the spot, her eyes fixed on the woman like she was prey. The archer silently laid down her bow and quiver, settling against the tree, watching with fascination as the woman continued on to the front porch and unloaded her bounty onto a rack by the door. Each piece of wood smoothly placed in a practiced motion, no struggle, no strain. ‘ _Some of those logs are not small, imagine the muscle that must lay in those arms…’_

Robin had to stop from physically smacking herself again. Now was not the time for those kinds of thoughts. She did her errand and needed to get on with her hunting practice. So why the hell couldn’t she get her legs to move? The Wicked Witch’s only child froze there, tracking the other blonde’s every move, almost disappointed that the recipient didn’t think twice about scooping up the package from her porch and whisking it inside the little cottage, door shutting soundly behind.

As if being released from a freezing spell the moment the wooden door closed, Robin seized her belongings and scurried away into the forest, head racing with thoughts of the woman she had basically just stalked. ‘ _Get yourself together, you’re Robin Hood. Act like you have some sense!’_

That evening when her mother asked how her day went, Robin avoided any mention of her excursion to the little cottage. And the next time Zelena asked her daughter to make a delivery, she put up much less of a fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow, another chapter. Crazy right?
> 
> This fic obviously ignores the Girl in the Tower episode. As much as I love all of that canon stuff, I just couldn't reconcile it with my fic. Weeellll I could have but I didn't think about it until it was too late haha.


	4. Trip Wires

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robin gets a little too overconfident

“Robin. Come down here please!” The former Wicked Witch of the West shouted up the staircase, readying herself for the inevitable argument that was sure to follow. It was barely eight in the morning but she knew Robin would already be awake. “I need you to take another delivery to the cottage!”

She waited a few moments for a response, and upon getting zero, stormed up the creaky stairs. She could hear rustling coming from the younger woman’s room indicating she was indeed already up. “Robin! I said I-” 

Her daughter came bursting out of the second door on the right and darted past her down the steps, tucking her undershirt into her trousers as she went, the rest of her clothing thrown over her shoulder. “Yep! Heard you! Got it!” 

Zelena smirked watching Robin race around the bottom floor of their modest house, grabbing her belongings and quickly situating herself to leave. She was halfway out the door when her mother stopped her. “Robin? Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Robin spun around in the doorframe, almost losing her balance and spilling half her quiver of arrows she had been trying to strap to her waist. “Huh?”

“The delivery, darling. Unless there’s something else you would like to give to the pirate’s daughter?” Zelena punctuated her last statement with a wink and a little laugh. Robin rolled her eyes but couldn’t help the blush creeping up her neck.

“MOM. It’s not like that, I don’t even talk to her! I just have a lot to do today and wanna get this little detour over with.” She rushed over to the table, seized the roll of parchment, and went back to the doorframe to gather up her arrows from the scattering on the wood floor. Finally shoving the last one into her quiver, Robin muttered a quick bye to her mother and all but sprinted down the path away from the house. 

After three weeks and seven deliveries, the archer had the route to the cottage almost down to muscle memory now, mindlessly stepping over each overgrown root and downed branch, ducking under overhangs, and skipping across what she would have called potholes back in Storybrooke. _‘What do you even call potholes in the woods? Dirt holes?’_

As she rounded the last curve on her path, she slowed, pulling out the parchment roll and a blue ribbon she had gotten from the market the day before. She didn’t go shopping just to find something for the girl, but Robin had seen the stall selling different colored ribbons and she couldn’t help it. Following a lengthy internal deliberation, the sky blue one was purchased and stashed away for the next time she was sent out. 

She was just out of sight of the target house, debating where to place the delivery this time, when she noticed something odd. Crouched down behind a boulder, she checked her wristwatch (one of the few modern conveniences she had brought back from Storybrooke). Normally, the object of her interest would be just finishing morning chores and getting ready to head out on whatever errands she had to run that day. But today the pirate’s daughter was nowhere to be seen. At first. 

Robin scanned the area, and eventually spotted her, staring out towards the woods from inside the front window. Robin ducked down, not wanting to be discovered. It had become a sort of game to the archer, trying to leave her deliveries in different places every time without being seen. Now it was going to be a challenge. 

She quickly surveyed the her surroundings, searching for a new route to her intended drop-off spot: the potted plant at the bottom of the porch steps. Finding none, Robin opted to wait her out. _‘I guess the birdhouse thing was too much for her. Jokes on her, I can sit here all day.’_

An hour or so later, Robin had finished re-braiding her hair and taking stock of her arrows for the third time when she dared worm her way around the boulder to check if the coast was clear. _‘Oh my gods, could she get any cuter.’_

Her blonde temptress was curled up with her head on her arms like a cat, snoozing in the morning rays filtering in through the glass window pane. She was downright adorable. Still, Robin could see no good way to sneak up and place the parchment roll without being seen and she actually did have things to attend to today. Sitting back against the rock, she began taking inventory of her arrows again before an idea hit her square in the forehead. Literally, she whacked her own head pulling an arrow out of the quiver too quickly. 

‘ _Seriously Robin. This whole time you didn’t think to just tie it to an arrow? What kind of archer are you?’_ It only took her a few moments to unroll the parchment, wrap it around an arrow, and tie it all together with the blue ribbon. As an afterthought, she pulled out a pad of brightly colored sticky notes (another hastily grabbed modern convenience), scribbling a couple words down and shoving it inside the parchment roll. Making sure those scrutinizing eyes were still asleep, Robin took a risk, and stood up slightly to line up her shot. 

_Whing!_

The arrow landed dead center on her target, the top of the right porch column. Robin ducked quickly, grabbing her things and dashing away, careful not to leave any traces of her presence. When she was far enough away to be confident she would not be caught, the braided girl peeked out from behind a cluster of spruce trees. Just to make sure the arrow was discovered. Not because Robin wanted to see the eccentric girl again. Definitely not that at all. 

Robin suppressed her giggles the best she could watching the other blonde jump up over and over to try to grab hold of the arrow. The way her dark blue dress bounced up and down with every leap, the apron ties in the back fluttering almost like they were waving. It was so damn cute. At the same time, the little grunts and groans she could hear were being filed away inside the archer’s head as noises she would like to make happen in a vastly different situation. _‘Really Robin, can you not go one trip without your mind wandering down a dirty path?’_

The arrow snapped in half when it’s predator finally managed to grasp it, and Robin bolted away, hoping any noise she made would be less interesting than the note she left with the parchment. 

From then on, her trips became the main highlights of her week. They became the reason she volunteered to go to the market for her mother (just in case she saw something cute), the reason she started carrying a spyglass with her to spot traps and tripwires, the reason she seemed to almost skip everywhere she went. Zelena’s only child was smitten, but she’d be damned before she would admit it to anyone, let alone her mother. 

Robin had gotten good at picking out the snares that were laid out for her. She even started setting some of them off just to taunt her new friend (she had taken to calling her a friend in her mind, even if she definitely wanted to be more than friends). She’d leave her packages in the middle of the triggered traps, snickering the whole time, and if she could, she’d stick around to see the other girl stomp around and curse under her breath. Robin had taken to leaving more and more elaborate gifts in return, starting with a pair of origami rabbits, something she had learned to make in grade school back in Storybrooke. The second time she used an arrow to accomplish her delivery she managed to hit the perpendicular face of the left column, making the arrow’s back end almost flush with the right column, leaving the recipient no choice but to practically run into it on the way out the front door. The following delivery Robin left a new set of windchimes she spent almost a week carving to look like arrows pointing all directions. She even added some of the feathers she used when she made her real arrows, for authenticity. 

The most meaningful gift, at least to the once ‘mean girl’ from the land without magic, was a bracelet she made out of different colored string. It had taken Robin the better part of four nights to make, dodging questions and knowing looks from her nosy mother every step of the way. That delivery she stuck around to watch her beautiful friend open, revelling in the way the other blonde’s face lit up upon seeing it and quickly tie it on. In that moment, Robin realized she wanted to see that face light up like that for the rest of her life. 

  
  


So to say that Robin grew cocky would be an understatement. She practically bounded around the cottage, avoiding traps and ambushes like they were pebbles. She probably would have whistled if it wouldn’t have given away where she was. Skipping over fake holes in the ground, dodging noisemakers, going around magical alarms (her mother was the Wicked Witch, she could practically smell magic a mile away). She felt like she could play the game forever.

Just over a month after the first arrow in the porch column, the archer found herself bent down behind a large patch of underbush, plotting her course of action to the wheelbarrow stored by the left side of the house. She was going to stick the delivery inside and move the wheelbarrow to the front porch, her most daring and brazen move yet. Finally seeing the coast was clear, Robin hunched down as she sprinted towards the cottage, too focused on her target to remember to look for tripwires. That would prove to be a huge mistake on her part.

_Snap!_

She barely had time to whip her head around before a large log the diameter of a full grown man’s thigh came swinging down from its perch high in a tree and rammed into her right shoulder from behind, throwing her forwards into the dirt. Robin’s head ricocheted off the ground and she could hear someone (was it her?) shouting curse words off in the distance as she watched the light slowly dim around her. She thought she saw a figure bend down next to her, but was soon lost in the black swirl of unconsciousness. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure I like this chapter. I mean I do, but I also kinda hate it. Does that mean it's art?  
> Ha, anywho! Hope you all like it!


	5. Swing and a Hit?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice sets too good of a trap

Alice heard the line on her latest trap snap and laughed to herself, trotting gaily down the porch steps and across the front garden, leaving the rest of the wood to be stacked later. She was more than a little excited to see what was waiting for her. Not that she expected a gift every delivery, but it had been weeks since she received a letter from her papa that didn’t include a little something extra. It wasn’t until she heard a loud groan that she picked up the pace, nearing a sprint. Her mysterious friend couldn’t have really gotten hit by her snare right? _‘Right? Oh gods!’_

Rounding the first curve of the path leading away from her home, Alice spotted a heap of cloth and arrows still letting out a weak moan. She stopped in her tracks, staring at her successful ambush. “Oh shit oh shit oh shit! Dammit you weren’t supposed to actually get caught! You were supposed to dodge it and slink off like you always do!”

Alice was mildly freaking out. Okay, more than mildly. She was downright panicking. _‘Deep breaths, calm down. You didn’t mean to hit him, it was just an accident. Sort of. Now I’ve gone and ruined the game. Worse, what if I’ve killed him? I’d be a murderer! What do I do now? I’ll have to move again! And maybe change my name, and then how will Papa find me?! ’_

Her mind racing in a million directions at once, she approached her victim and practically shoved her knees into the rapidly cooling ground, her hands hovering with no idea where to start. The moaning had stopped, which Alice wanted to take as a good sign but knew it was likely a very bad sign. She finally settled on checking for a pulse, that’s what her papa always said to do first when someone was hurt this badly. Getting what she thought was a pretty good grasp on the stranger, Alice heaved, finding her charge lighter than expected, and managed to turn the messenger over easily. She hastily pushed back the hood of the figure beside her, not ready for the face she found. 

“You’re… you’re a woman!” The realm-jumper who had seen more things in her few years of being free than most saw their whole lives, had genuinely never thought her courier friend was a woman. It’s not that she thought women couldn’t do anything they wanted, she was living proof they most certainly could; it was just that, well, in this realm she was under the impression that people like herself were not commonplace. People who tended to lean romantically toward those of the same gender. Not that Alice was assuming that was the intention behind all the gifts and notes, but she had let herself hope, just a little, that maybe it had been. Even if it was, she highly doubted this little _infraction_ would be forgiven any time soon.

She allowed her eyes a few moments to drink in the face she uncovered. Every miniscule feature Alice tried to absorb at once; every line, every curve, from the downturn of her perfect lips to the eyes that seemed they could be sleeping. Her papa’s voice filled her head, _‘Not sleeping, Starfish, hurt. Might even be closed for good. So get a move on, love.”_

Forcing her mind to fall back into the minimal healing training she had amassed throughout her travels, her fingers found motion at last. Her index and middle digits pressed tenderly against the smooth skin of the stranger’s neck, searching for any indication of life.

_Thump-dump. Thump-dump. Thump-dump._

The blue-eyed blonde’s own heart leapt and she released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. She wasn’t a murderer after all! But now she needed to get the woman back to the cottage before they both froze. The sun was rapidly setting and if the local farmers were anything to go by, the first snow wasn’t far off.

“I’ll be right back, I promise. I’m gonna go grab something to help!” Alice tried to make her voice sound reassuring, more for her own nerves than anything, and made haste to her well-used wheelbarrow, chucking the remaining logs this way and that. She drug it back to the woman and set about loading her into the now empty bed as gracefully as she could. “Sorry if you wake up with a couple of extra bruises, I’m doin’ my best.”

Alice found her load to be semi-manageable, only getting stuck twice on rocks, and soon found herself with a new problem: how to get up the stairs. After some deliberation, brute muscle seemed the way to go, opting to try her hand at carrying the not-so-dead weight the rest of the way inside. “Time to get up close and personal!”

Trying first to carry the woman bridal-style, then over her shoulder like a baby lamb, Alice ultimately and unceremoniously dragged the unconscious body by the underarms. The first step was easy, but each subsequent plank made Alice’s muscles strain further and further. When she reached the top, her shoulders ached and she permitted her limbs to collapse, letting the stranger’s top half fall on the lower portion of her own body.

The sun’s rays were barely visible between the trees, the shadows creeping in and bringing frigid weather with them. They both needed to get inside, and quickly. Steeling herself for one more round of lugging, she made sure to reach up and open the door behind her. At the last second, Alice decided against standing, choosing instead to scoot backwards and pull the woman toward her like an inchworm. She found much less resistance and executed her goal of getting the messenger to the side of her bed in record time. If she kept records on such things, of course. _‘It’s a shame this is how I get her in bed the first time…’_

Shaking her head as if to whip off such thoughts, Alice heaved her charge up sideways onto the quilt bought from a trader in the mountains of Asgard, and collapsed next to her, succumbing to exhaustion herself.

An unfamiliar yet comforting scent filled Alice’s nose, rousing her from her slumber. She could feel leather under her right hand and it was moving up and down in a soothing motion. Alice nearly let it lull her back to dreamland. She was curled on her left side, legs pulled up below her, face buried in what she assumed was the mane of one of the many dolls her papa had brought back for her when she was trapped in that awful tower. 

_‘Oh. Wait.’_

Memories of the past who knew how many hours flooded her head and her eyes flew open. That was most certainly not a doll. That was a person. A _girl_ person. 

Alice slid her body backwards, being careful not to disturb the sleeping form next to her. Though after a few test pokes, she was pretty sure this was still an ‘unconscious’ situation, not a ‘sleeping’ situation. That or the woman slept like the dead. _‘As long as she doesn’t actually die.’_

It was then that a cold shiver swept down her spine and she stretched, lifting her head to inspect the fireplace. Just as she suspected, the once roaring blaze she had been gathering wood to keep burning had been reduced to barely embers. It was pitch black outside, hardly any light filtering in on a moonless night. Still feeling the need to sneak around, she got up as quietly as she could and began to rekindle the fire, using that time to figure out her next moves. 

Once the flames were stable, Alice cautiously made her way back to the person still occupying her bed. She ran an anxious hand through her unruly golden curls. She wasn’t exactly sure what kind of injuries she was really dealing with and had decided the best course of action would be to do an inventory. Which meant she would have to undress the mystery woman, at least partly. 

' _It’s all business. I’m just doing my duty as a good host and providing the utmost care.’_ She started with the easiest thing: shoes. She knelt down and began carefully untying and loosing the laces of the brown leather boots she was face to face with, pulling each off and setting them aside. There was a mild smell, but Alice had surely smelled worse. 

Moving on, she stripped each foot of its sock, marveling at the multicolored toenails she unearthed. Upon inspection, she concluded no signs of sprains or breaks in the foot area and was satisfied she could continue her work. The pirate’s daughter grimaced a bit as she stood, not sure how to begin with the rest of the job. Feet had been easy, all separate and such. If she could just get the cloak off, she was pretty sure it would be smooth sailing after.

Alice leaned over and attempted to unclasp the cloak, trying not to get lost in the pretty face just above. It took her three tries to push in both sides of the unfamiliar clipping mechanism, but at last she was able to finagle it open and spread out the cloak away from the woman’s body. Rolling the stranger from one side to the other as gently as possible, Alice was able to shimmy the cloak out from under, tossing it over one of the kitchen chairs. “There, that wasn’t so bad.”

The vest was next, Alice swiftly undoing the leather belt and buttons down the front, using the same rolling method to remove the article of clothing before chucking it too in the direction of the kitchen chairs. Her leather gloves followed right after. 

The pirate’s daughter, the portal-jumper, the realm-explorer could feel her face begin to redden as she realized which clothing would have to be next. “I can do this. They’re just trousers. It’s not as if I’m removing her undergarments”

Shakily, Alice bent over and started undoing the trouser ties before her, glancing up every so often to make sure the stranger’s eyes were still closed. It would have been a very precarious place to have her hands should the woman have chosen then to wake up. Thankfully, her lids stayed shut and Alice was able to slacken the chords enough to wriggle the trousers downwards, exposing tight-fitting long pants and a feminine curve to the hips. _‘Breathe, keep breathing and just pretend you’re back on the battlefield. You’ve defeated the Jabberwocky and are assessing the troops for survivors. Just a routine body check. Just a routine body check on a stranger. Just a routine body check on a_ pretty _stranger...’_

Legs seemed to be all in order, though there were probably some bruises from the rather undignified way Alice had to move the woman to the bed. She would have to make sure to apologize for that later. 

The last piece of clothing was the one the blonde was most nervous about. It was only twelve buttons from what she could see. Twelve teensy blouse buttons and her work would be complete. Gathering up the necessary courage and composure, Alice started at the top, fingers working as quickly as she could. She tried to go by touch alone, forcing her gaze away from the ever expanding plane of skin she was revealing. _‘Is she not wearing an undershirt? Or a corset? Bullocks I did not plan for this!’_

Just when she was reaching a point where modesty was undeniably going to come into question, the next button revealed a line of soft grey fabric with the tiniest stitching Alice had ever seen. Not that Alice was looking at it in detail. Or touching it. Nope. 

The last button was finally freed from its hole and the blouse was removed in a similar fashion as the other garments. 

The bruising and swelling were widespread from the woman’s mid-chest outward to her right shoulder, and when the bright blonde shifted the sleeping figure slightly, she could see that the majority of the injuries were actually across her back. Alice made her way to the kitchen, confident that she could handle healing a few cuts and bruises. She grabbed a clean rag and ran a bucket of water, carrying both back to the bed and setting them on the small bedside table. In order to reach the wounds, Alice had to rotate her mystery messenger so her head was at the foot of the bed and then prop her up with a rolled up blanket and her only pillow. The pirate’s daughter had just started a thorough but gentle cleaning of the first cut when she heard a slight groan and froze, damp rag mid-air. Twenty ticks of the clock passed without another sound, so the makeshift healing carried on, with near an hour spent washing and tightly wrapping the right shoulder in bandages she kept for emergencies.

“There, now at least you won’t get an infection. Sorry there isn’t more I could do about the swelling, hopefully the wrap will keep it down.” Alice yawned, noting it was almost four in the morning now, and contemplated sleeping arrangements. She only had the one pillow and if she used her own body to prop up the stranger’s, then she could use the pillow as intended and drape the blanket over both of them. A solid plan in her head, she slipped off her own outer garments, climbed into bed upside-down, and shuffled her body into the space the pillow and blanket had been occupying. Fixing the blanket over top of them and squeezing both heads on the pillow, Alice felt the dream world calling her name. “So warm..”

Inhaling the same foresty-cinnamon scent that awoke her, it didn’t take long for the exhausted realm-jumper-turned-nursemaid to fall into a deep sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably closer to what chapter lengths will be from now on, the first few I was getting my bearings after being gone from writing for a while. 
> 
> Enjoy!


	6. Snowglobes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robin is no stranger to hangovers

_ Tree branches are whipping at her face and arms, thick fog surrounds her on all sides. She is being chased by something. Something BIG. She can hear it crashing behind her, massive trunks being ripped from the ground and thrown this way and that. There’s a deafening roar and the earth-shaking stomps grow closer and closer. She stumbles over roots and downed limbs, scrambling up every time her balance wavers.  _

_ Feeling across her back for her bow, her fingers grasp at air over and over. She’s defenseless. The beast is gaining on her rapidly, she needs to find a place to hide but the fog makes it impossible to see farther than a few feet in front of her She claws once more at her back, desperately looking for her favored weapon, and as if by magic, she can feel the pads of her fingers strike hard wood. _

_ Slinging her bow out from across her chest, she grabs an arrow from the quiver that materializes on her right hip and nocks it. She wagers she has one shot at this, so it had better be a good one. Counting to three, she spins around and plants her feet. The monster just comes into view and she is lining up her shot when she is tackled from behind, her arrow flying wild, off into the abyss of fog and forest. She hears a woman shouting as everything goes black. _

_ ‘STOP!’ _

  
  


Something smelled like the ocean, with a hint of citrus maybe? Robin’s brain felt like it was submerged in a cask of ale, her thoughts swimming around recklessly, and she was having trouble getting her eyes to open. Choosing to focus on what she could do rather than what she couldn’t, she ran through a checklist in her absolutely pounding head. 

_ ‘Toes?’  _ Robin wiggled her shoeless toes successfully. 

_ ‘Fingers?’  _ She managed to move all ten digits, noting that her right side protested a bit violently.

_ ‘Smell?’  _ That had already been confirmed by the scent of saltwater.

_ ‘Hearing?’  _ Wherever she was was quiet. There was a soft whooshing of air back and forth behind her. _ ‘Maybe the seawater I smell? Okay, anything else before we try the eyes again?’ _

Then she felt a slight wiggle at her back accompanied by a quiet murmuring. She stilled, once again trying to remember where exactly she was. She didn’t remember going to a tavern last night, but she was becoming more and more certain there was a person pressed up against her, not a warm rock (which the more she thought about it, the more ridiculous she felt for thinking that in the first place). Did she really drink  _ that _ much? Robin could feel fabric against her; she was fairly sure she still had her camisole and her leggings on, so at least she wasn’t naked.  _ ‘There’s a plus I guess.’ _

So what in the Hades was going on? Foreign fingers squeezed the exposed skin of her hip where her cami had ridden up and Robin was praying they at least belonged to a girl. Gods forbid she got trashed enough to go home with a dude, that would be a low she hadn’t sunk to in a while. The hand felt small and a little rough, but not unpleasantly so.  _ ‘So probably a girl. Cool, good. I can work with that.’ _

She tried once more to pry open her eyes, her left one sticking together slightly, her pupils slow to adjust to the harsh sunlight streaming in from somewhere in the room. 

The first thing that was clear was she was now dead sure she was on someone’s bed, if the pillow she could see in her peripheral vision was anything to go by. Straight in front of her was a bookcase, jam-packed with scrolls and books and little trinkets. There seemed to be no real organization to it, with sailing books squeezed in between literature on poisonous plants and a large tome about dragons. Hopefully that meant whoever was currently spooning her wasn’t a complete idiot. Robin attempted to lift her head a bit to look around more but the action drew a slow whine from her lips, and her skull felt like it would explode any second.

“Oh fuck…” Her throat was a desert and her words came out in a harsh rasp. Swallowing hard, she tried to get her mouth to create at least a little moisture. She must have been beyond wasted the night before to be so dehydrated in the light of day. The figure behind her began to stir; cute little squeaks paired with a few elaborate stretches made it pretty clear Robin wasn’t the only one semi-conscious anymore. The woman (Robin was now putting all her hopes into that) repositioned herself against the archer, arm wrapping tighter around the slightly larger girl’s waist. Robin would have let her stay that way a bit, if only because her own head was protesting any idea of getting up. But as the woman pressed her face against Robin’s back, the wounded messenger let out a small whimper. 

“I’m so sorry! Oh no, did I hurt you? There I go again, always making things worse!” As the girl bolted up, Robin felt herself roll onto her back and was abruptly in a sea of blonde curls. 

“Oof, what happened last night? I feel like I went three rounds with a flying monkey..” Robin was aiming to lighten the mood, even though her back and shoulder were aching. She really wished she could remember something, anything, about the night before because damn, if her shoulder hurt this much, it must have been wild. There was an odd familiarity to the mop of blonde blocking the stranger’s face. Robin could feel recognition just out of her reach. When the woman finally swept her hair out of her face and the archer gasped. “It’s you!”

“Me?” The blue-eyed girl leaned back, unsure where this was going. “I think I’m me, yes. Me-ist me I’ve been in a bit. Were you expecting someone else?”

Like the last puzzle piece sliding into place, Robin’s eyes went wide as her memory came flooding back. Taking the package from her mom’s house, stopping at the baker’s on the way to pick up some fresh bread (a bit to eat and a bit to give), and then approaching the cottage. She remembered a loud crack and then nothing. “What in the Underworld happened to me?”

There was silence, only the many clocks on the wall by the bed gave any indication time was moving. Robin watched as the woman she’d been secretly lusting after worried her bottom lip with her teeth, clearly looking for an answer that was evading her. Gods, she was so much cuter up close. “Well?”

“You weren’t supposed to get hurt.” The words came out as a whisper filled with anxiety and regret, and the object of Robin’s far-off affection buried her face in her hands. “I set the trap up thinking full-well you would probably just skip right through it and then set it off for fun. You know, like you always do. I never thought… I didn’t mean…” 

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m pretty sure this is a direct result of my own cockiness. I was so focused on my goal, I forgot to look for tripwires.” The archer’s low laugh quickly turned into a groan as her chest objected to the movement. “Geez, what did you hit me with anyway? A boulder?”

“A tree trunk. I found it when I was cording wood and when it was too big for me to cut up easily, I figured I could pulley it up high and make a fun snare. I even carved a smiley face on the front end. Which seems silly now…” The woman seemed to get over some of her upset and carefully set to rolling Robin back on her left side as she spoke, giving the bandages a once-over. “I came as soon as I heard the trap go off, but when I got there you were unconscious already. I did my best to clean up your cuts and wrap your shoulder.”

The archer was trying to focus on her words but the light touch of her fingers across Robin’s back and down her arm were entirely too distracting. A thought dawned on her and she pushed her shoulder back to look behind her. “Did.. Did you undress me?”

The blush was unmistakable as her nurse did her best not to look Robin in the eye, instead fiddling with the hem of her own undershirt. Quietly she answered, “I needed to assess your injuries and I couldn’t do that with you clothed.” 

The archer risked another laugh and let her get back to work, satisfied that nothing untoward had happened while she was unconscious. She closed her eyes, content to relish every second she got with the other girl’s hands on her. 

Robin must have fallen back to sleep, because when she opened her eyes, evening had set in again. Her shoulder and back were still throbbing but the pain in her head had abated enough for her to hazard pushing her top half up to better see around. The dark blonde hair she usually kept neatly in a braid had been freed of it’s elastic and swung down around her face. Blowing it out of her eyes, she took stock of her situation. 

The little cottage was really just two rooms: the main one she was in housed the kitchen, bedroom, and living room; there was a door off in a corner that Robin assumed led to a washroom of sorts. The fireplace was blazing, sending warmth radiating throughout the space. There was a little kitchen area with some cupboards and an icebox, and a table set that had apparently become the resting area for most of Robin’s clothes. 

The entirety of the home was filled with strange and curious items on every surface. A colorful kite hung from the ceiling along with countless paper snowflakes. All the bookshelves (and there were numerous) were covered in scrolls and bits of paper, tiny figurines and baubles. One in particular caught her attention. Nestled in between an Argraban cookbook and manual on ice cutting, was the snowglobe Robin had left her two weeks earlier. The more she looked around, the more she realized all the gifts she had given the pirate’s daughter had their own special place, as if they were just as important as the things the other woman had clearly collected on her travels around the realms. She suddenly had a million questions. Robin glanced around the room once more, searching for her. 

She was alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm spoiling you guys I know


	7. Trouser Ties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls get a bit closer

“I really wasn’t aiming to hurt her, Mr. Squirrel, I swear. I was just raising the stakes a bit.” Alice was babbling to the furry creature sitting on the handle of her wheelbarrow, trying more to alleviate her own stress about the situation than anything. She’d collected half a load of kindling since she’d first wandered outside in an attempt to let her mystery houseguest get some rest, and somewhere along the way, Mr. Squirrel starting tagging along. Alice was pretty sure if she hadn’t left the house, she would have ended up finding reasons to touch the woman and there were only so many times she could tell herself she was just checking bandages.

She worked her way around the outskirts of the cottage, starting on one side near the path, working her way around the back of the house and again towards the front. Alice was nearing the other side of the path when she bent to pick up a particularly strange branch. “What’s this?”

It was a beautifully carved wooden bow, well-used but obviously well taken care of. Alice frowned when she saw the bowstring hanging in two limp pieces, wondering where exactly this gem of a weapon had come from. She took a scan of the area and, upon noting the blaring familiarity (mainly the large log still hanging nearby from a thick rope), realized it must belong to her messenger. 

“Mr. Squirrel! Look what I’ve got! It’s a pity it’s broken. Maybe I can find someone in town who could mend it for her.” Alice stashed the bow in the wheelbarrow and surveyed the spot again. The ground was a mess of broken arrows and feathers, she wasn’t sure any of them survived the crash. Sifting through the wreckage, she found four still intact arrows which she gently tossed in with the broken bow, and a quiver which could definitely use some repairs soon joined them. There was a small sack mixed into the mess that she just barely spotted before standing back.

The sun was disappearing and a shiver running down her body reminded Alice she would need to get inside soon; her cloak could only stave off so much of the cold air swirling around her. Gripping the handles, she steered her way back to the porch. “Bye Mr. Squirrel! Get yourself inside a nice tree before you freeze!”

Wood stacked and wheelbarrow stashed away, she grabbed up the bow, quiver, and arrows, unsure if she should show her injured guest yet or not. She may be quite literally adding insult to injury.  _ ‘But I don’t want to hide anything from her, that seems rude. I should show her. Best be upfront.’ _

The pirate’s daughter was unprepared for the sight that greeted her. Her mystery woman was strung out on the floor in the middle of the room, red-faced and panting, her legs awkwardly shoved in her trousers and her blouse half buttoned. Alice stared for a moment, taking in the admittedly hilarious sight, before she burst out laughing. “What are you doing?”

The woman froze and looked up sheepishly. “I was trying to get dressed. I wanted to gather some wood for the fireplace since the pile was low and I hate sitting around feeling useless.”

“Let’s have none of that! I’ve already gathered more kindling and there are plenty of logs on the porch.” The standing blonde could barely speak through the giggles and had to work hard to calm down. “It is supposed to be very cold tonight and may even snow. Here, let’s get you back up into bed, you’ll not be going anywhere today.”

Alice dropped her armload of weaponry on the table and leaned down next to her messenger. Throwing the woman’s left arm over her shoulder, Alice stood and helped her bruised companion back to the bed. “That’s better.”

The darker blonde sat on the edge, looking as if she was contemplating asking something but couldn’t make herself. Alice stood there, watching and waiting. When the other woman spoke it was so quiet, Alice almost missed it. 

“Can you help me get my pants off?” The injured party was even redder now, if that was even possible, and began fiddling with her trouser ties, which had worked themselves into a large knot.

“Well that’s a loaded question.” The standing blonde winked and grinned, motioning for her to lay back, which she did without looking Alice in the face. Gingerly, Alice placed her hands on the laces going up the front, not missing the way the other woman’s breath caught, if only for a fraction of a second. The realm-hopper smirked to herself and began tackling the knot that was locking the trousers in place. She couldn’t help but tease the other blonde, “You know, we should probably exchange names, since this will be the second time now I’m undressing you.” 

When the pirate’s daughter was answered with silence, she looked up at the woman, noticing the closed eyes and furrowed brow that painted her face. Alice went back to her task, eventually freeing the knot. Her hands went up to meet hips and she heard another strangled gasp. “Lift up a bit, please.”

She tried not to admire the woman’s ab muscles from where her undershirt had ridden up, but damn. Every flex was testing Alice’s resolve; it had been a bit since that pretty sorceress in Wonderland.  _ ‘But even she wasn’t built like this. This girl is going to kill me.’ _

She pulled backwards to remove the trousers completely. “Do you want help with your shirt, too?”

“Uh, yeah. If you don’t mind…” The messenger groaned as she brought her top half upwards and Alice had to remind herself that it was a noise of discomfort. The tiny buttons were old hat to the curly blonde now and she had them undone in less than a minute (there were only five done up anyway). “Thanks.”

“Course.” Blue eyes at last met what Alice was just noticing was a startling green, like the forest itself was trapped in there. “My pleasure.”

The two paused like that, the portal-jumper bent over, hands on either side of the mystery girl’s hips, their faces inches apart. Studying each other, trying to read the other’s intentions. 

“I’m Alice. Alice Jones.”

“Robin.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this one's short but hey, it's an update


	8. Splish Splash

_ Am I breathing? She is so close to me. Oh Gods. She smells just like the ocean. I can’t breathe.’ _ She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the swirl of shining blue, it was hypnotizing. That cute little half-smile was just inches from her, all Robin would have to do was lean in a teensy-tiny bit…

“Well, we should get some food into you, you must be starving!” Alice (how fitting she should be named after Robin’s favorite book character) bounded off to the kitchen and began rummaging through cabinets, pulling out an assortment of foods. “We have different kinds of cheese, breads, biscuits, jams and marmalades. I’ve got some meat in the ice box and veggies in the cellar… Probably could whip up a stew of sorts if you want…”

Robin struggled to clear her throat and re-focus. She had to reign her thoughts in. She barely knew this woman. Sure, she’d been delivering cute little gifts and notes to Alice for weeks now, but it’s not like they ever talked. They didn’t even exchange names until five minutes ago. She finally found her voice, interrupting the never-ending list of food possibilities spilling out of the curly blonde. “Stew is good. Or whatever you want to make. I’m not picky.”

Alice spun around on her heel, throwing that megawatt smile towards the wounded archer. “Stew it is! Rabbit okay? I’ve always had a thing for rabbit.”

Robin chuckled, of course Alice would have a thing for rabbits. The darker blonde ran her left hand through her locks, her fingers catching on an alarming number of little knots. She must look like a hot mess right now and she desperately wanted to shower, but was pretty sure that Alice didn’t have a magic-powered plumbing system like her mother’s farmhouse. She settled for continuing to rake her hand through the knots, trying to get as many out as she could. 

“Anything your stomach can’t tolerate?” Alice spun around to face the archer, brandishing a large wooden spoon. Delicious fumes were already starting to waft throughout the cottage, and the stomach in question let out a very audible rumble. 

“Uh, not that I know of. Is there anything I can do to help?” She knew she sounded ridiculous asking but she hated sitting there doing nothing. Alice had already gone back to cooking, enthusiastically cutting vegetables and stopping every so often to toss them in the pot. The archer began absently picking at the material encasing her shoulder, still trying to push her thoughts in a more innocent direction.

“Just sit there and look cute!” The busy blonde replied without even glancing up from where she was chopping potatoes, causing Robin to turn even redder than before. 

Robin spent the next forty-five minutes experimenting with her shoulder, moving her arm in different directions and determining her new range of motion. She could use her hand with limited restriction, but the second she raised her elbow more than a few inches, a searing heat shot through her body and she struggled not to vomit from the pain. She fell back against the bed and let out a sigh. What if her shoulder never got better? She felt the bed shift and a sudden influx of body heat. 

“What do you think? Eat supper in bed or at the table?” Alice said it so casually, like it was a decision they made together every night. Robin could feel blue eyes piercing into the side of her head but the archer knew if she turned to meet them, she wouldn’t be able to stop from bridging the gap. 

“I can try to make it to the table.” Robin grunted a bit as she relied heavily on her core muscles to lift up to a seated position. She almost jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand press against the small of her back, steadying her as she rose up on her feet. Alice giggled a little beside her and Robin had to fight the urge once again to meet her gaze. 

Settling in the chair closest to the bed, the archer watched the other woman practically dance around the room, grabbing spoons, cups of water, and bowls of steaming hot stew. She had an odd kind of grace about her. 

“Tuck in!” The bubbly girl beamed from across the table and proceeded to do just that. Robin stared at the food before her before slowly picking up the spoon with her left hand. She was a bit clumsier with it than her right but she managed. Alice looked up and studied her curiously. “You aren’t normally left-handed are you? Would you like help?”

“Ha, I’m not, but it’s not an issue really. When I was ten I spent six months doing everything with my left hand. Not sure now why I put my mother through that hell, but there are some instances where it is definitely beneficial to be able to use both hands damn near equally.” So far she had only spilled a little bit of stew on the table and Robin was getting better every time she went for another bite. 

“I’ll bet there are.” Alice’s words coupled with a sly wink had the archer almost choking on a spoonful of broth, and the blue-eyed lovely couldn’t help but let out another laugh. Robin decided then that she could listen to that sound forever. 

They finished their meal in relative silence and soon both parties were stuffed. The archer’s eyes began to droop, exhaustion starting to take over again. Without any prompting, Alice made her way over the opposite side of the table and helped Robin back to the bed, and, after a bit of fussing, the darker blonde was on her way to sleep while the other busied herself with tidying up the table and kitchen. 

  
  


Robin was starting to get used to waking up in Alice’s bed. Not like that, but, well, she wasn’t surprised by it this time. She was propped up on her left side again so she sensed rather than saw the bed’s owner behind her and leaned back slightly, taking an odd comfort in the form she felt back there. 

“Don’t you worry, I’m just back here catching up on some reading.” Her voice was light and reassuring, partnered with a gentle hand on Robin’s hip. The archer struggled to keep from leaning into the touch.

“What time is it?” There were bright rays of sunshine pouring in the windows and the smell of cooked meats and something sweet lingered in the air.

“Nearly ten in the morning. You slept all evening and through the night, I thought you might have gone unconscious again. How are you feeling this morning?” Alice shifted, moving to unwrap the bandages around the messenger’s shoulder. “We should give this some air and probably clean the cuts again. You fancy a bath?”

Before Robin could answer, her hostess was already up and grabbing a black pot to hang over the fireplace. She pulled a large tub from the small room off in the corner and draped a washrag over the side. “I can fill the tub up for you and then leave you to it. Do you think you can get undressed by yourself?”

Robin’s mouth abruptly went dry at the thought of Alice helping her undress down to nothing. Her voice was barely a whisper, “Uh I think I can do it.”

Twenty or so minutes later and the steam rising from the tub was calling to the wounded archer. The pretty bright blonde set a small table next to the bath with a couple extra washcloths and a bar of soap, and stood back with her hands on her hips. “Well, I guess you’re all set. I’m gonna head to the baker’s to get some bread and perhaps a few sweet treats. Try not to drown!”

Throwing on her cloak and boots, Alice was out the door in no time, leaving Robin with her thoughts and the mountainous task before her. 

She was in the middle of rinsing out her hair for a third time when the front door swung open and in plodded a stack of crates with legs. Robin quickly hugged her knees, striving to cover as much of her body as possible, ignoring the burn of agony it brought to her shoulder and back. Setting the crates on the kitchen table, Alice began talking a mile a minute about her trip to the baker’s house and seeing his family, playing tag with the little ones before being coerced into buying a couple bottles of rum as well (because the baker was trying his hand at distilling); she kept talking without looking Robin’s way and it wasn’t until her coat and boots were put up and she was starting to unpack the crates that she caught sight of the hunched over and very much still naked messenger. 

“OH! You’re still… I’ll just… Unless you need help?” Robin violently shook her head at the inquiry. “Okay, I’ll just go sweep off the porch then… Shout if you need anything!”

The second the front door closed again, Robin exhaled loudly and began massaging her neck and back as best she could, before pushing herself up to towel off. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh I know, I didn't update allll weekend but it's much easier for me to update during the week.  
>  So there might be a new one tomorrow too. ;)


	9. More like Break Cup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rum?

The pirate’s only daughter struggled to keep her mind on her sweeping and stopped her eyes more than once from wandering over to the front windows. Alice was no stranger to naked women; she’d enjoyed the company of more than a few in her times realm-jumping, but there was something about knowing that her mystery messenger was mere feet away, possibly still without clothes... 

“Hey.” Alice started at the soft tone coming from the doorway behind her. She swiveled around to meet those beautiful green eyes. “I’m not sure I can drag the tub out here by myself to empty it. Normally I think I could handle it, but with my shoulder…”

Robin was dressed in her own tight long pants, though she now sported one of Alice’s looser undershirts, the kind that had a v-neck with ties for colder weather. The ties hung loose and Alice couldn’t help but stare at the exposed cleavage for a second or two. The darker blonde followed Alice’s gaze and self-consciously glanced down at her outfit, her face turning an adorable shade of pink. “Sorry, I should have asked first. My cami had some blood on it and I didn’t think it was a good idea to put it back on. I can though, if you want.”

“No! Of course it’s fine for you to borrow a shirt.” Alice leaned her broom against the side of the cottage and shooed Robin back inside where it was warm. “And don’t you worry about the tub. My friend enchanted it for me! Watch!”

She tapped the side of the wooden structure three times and it began to shake as though possessed. Four little legs, like those of a lion, sprouted from the sides and the tub stood up, waiting for an order, water sloshing from side to side as it rocked anxiously. “Tub, please go empty yourself outside and return to the storage room. Thank you.”

A smug grin overtook Alice’s face as she watched the wash tub do exactly as she requested, only running into the doorway once before righting itself. “See? Easy as pie.”

Robin chuckled at the dog-like washtub, but it was quickly cut short by a sharp pain in her chest. She doubled-over and Alice was instantly in her personal space, grabbing her waist and letting her rest her forehead on the bright blonde’s shoulder. The darker-haired girl took a few deep breaths, before muttering a few muffled words into deep blue fabric. “What was that?”

Her wounded friend pulled back, “I think I’m good now, thanks.” Alice reluctantly released her grip and stepped away. 

"Wanna play a game?"

A couple hours and six games of chess later, Robin tossed up her hands as Alice proclaimed checkmate again. “I quit! I’ll never beat you.”

“Maybe we should play something else? What kinds of things do you like to do?” The pirate’s daughter had traveled lots of places but was always alone and wasn’t quite sure how to entertain any company for more than an hour or two. 

“You said something earlier about rum? I could go for some of that right about now. We could even play a drinking game if you want.” Alice cocked an eyebrow at Robin’s suggestion, never having been a day-drinker herself, or much of a drinker at all, but willing to try anything once (or twice really). She popped up from the table and rifled through the crates until she pulled out two large dark brown glass bottles with cork tops. Uncorking the both, she handed one over to the other woman before setting back into her chair.

“So what kind of game is a drinking game?” Hook may be her father, but the curly blonde was not too familiar with drinking culture. 

“Games like Never Have I Ever, Truth or Dare, Quarters, Two Truths and a Lie, Circle of Death.. Higher or Lower… Flip Cup….” Robin let her voice trail off. She must have seen how overwhelmed Alice was with all the choices, and quickly made a decision. “How about we start with an easy one. Two Truths and a Lie. You tell two things that are true about you, and one that is a lie. If the other person guesses which is the lie, you drink; if they guess wrong, they drink. Easy, right?” 

“Ooo! I’ll start!” The realm jumper clapped her hands excitedly and began to think hard. “Okay. One, I grew up in a tower. Two, I hate learning new things. Three, my father is a pirate. Now guess!”

“Second one. Alice, you’re not supposed to make them so easy. Drink!” Robin let out a low laugh at the other girl’s statements, and an even louder one as the blue-eyed girl swallowed the dark liquid with a frown. “Alright, my turn. One, my mother calls me her little monkey. Two, I’m named after my father. Three, I was born without magic.”

Alice pondered the options for a moment, fairly certain she could guess right. “Two. Am I right?”

“EEEh! Wrong. I was indeed named after my father, Robin Hood, and my mother does call me her little monkey. Drink!” Another swig of rum and the brighter blond was trying not to pout. “I had magic, but I kind of lost it and then gave it to my mom.”

Alice’s interest was piqued at the mention of magic but she had a feeling that Robin wasn’t keen on sharing that particular story at the moment. “My go. One, I have a sand collection. Two, an ogre broke me out of my tower. Three, my papa calls me Starfish.”

She was pretty confident she could stump her house guest with those ones, and was victorious. 

“Who collects sand? That one, I pick number one.” 

“Nope!” The wild-haired girl exclaimed, popping the ‘p’. “Now YOU have to drink! Oh, I like this game!”

The girls continued playing the first drinking game for the better part of an hour, occasionally asking the other for a follow-up explanation to a rather interesting truth. Robin was dumbfounded when it registered that the Alice before her was THE Alice. From Wonderland (and other places). Alice, in turn, was impressed to find that her new friend was quite adept at archery just like her namesake. When Robin suggested they try playing Quarters, Alice was optimistic at her chances, but found herself on the losing end more often than not. She should have known better than to challenge Girl Robin Hood to a game of aim and accuracy, even injured. 

Quarters gave way to Flip Cup (which ended quickly after they shattered the third ceramic mug and Robin fervently promised to buy Alice a whole new set), and Flip Cup led to Higher or Lower (Alice squealing at finally finding a use for her deck of cards from Pleasure Island). By the time the pirate’s daughter proposed they move on to Never Have I Ever, a game she was pretty sure she could suss out just from the name, the Wicked Witch’s daughter was two sheets to the wind and let out a drunken cheer, proclaiming it was her favorite.

“So we just say things we haven’t done? And then you drink if you have?” 

“That’s the idea, yeah. Like, never have I ever been to Wonderland. Drink!” The archer giggled, swaying side to side a bit in her seat at the foot end of the bed, where they had ended up after leaving pottery shards all over the table and chairs. The smaller girl took a healthy gulp of her nearly empty bottle and smiled the whole way, no longer minding the burning sensation. 

“Never have I ever had a sibling.” She was surprised when Robin threw back a swig.

“Half brother on my dad’s side, long story, I think he leads the Merry Men now.” The darker blonde said with a shrug. Even inebriated, there seemed to be things she didn’t want to go into. “Never have I ever liked wearing dresses.”

“Low blow, Girl Hood, low blow!” Alice tipped her bottle back, not missing how the other girl’s eyes stayed on her mouth. “I’ll have you know that my dresses are marvelously comfy and still afford me the ability to outrun danger. Never have I ever courted more than one person at a time.”

Robin smirked. Her bottle was down to the last couple inches so she took a measured drink. “We all have our wild teenage stories I guess. Never have I ever kissed a dude.”

Both women sat there, staring at one another. Robin’s heavy eyes suddenly widened and she seemed bewildered at Alice’s lack of movement. “I said never have I ever kissed a du-”

“I heard you, it just doesn’t apply to me. I’ve never kissed a man, besides my papa on the cheek of course.” The portal-hopper said this matter-of-factly, the alcohol overriding any qualms she had about admitting details regarding her romantic history. “Never have I ever let someone spend the night after … relations..”

“Relations? Is that what kids these days are calling it?” Robin quipped, trying to take the required drink without Alice noticing. She would have gotten away with it, if she hadn’t spilled half of it on her shirt. “Wait, if you’ve never kissed a guy, but just admitted to having…”

Alice could practically smell the cogs burning in the archer’s mind as she tried to connect the dots, and she took the opportunity to stare openly at her guest, more specifically at the undershirt now wet and clinging to her guest. She could feel herself leaning forward, the space between them growing smaller and smaller, Robin still lost in thought and oblivious. 

Slowly and gently, rum swirling in her head and making her bolder than ever, Alice placed a hand on each of Robin’s knees, her thumbs making small circles in the fabric. The other girl gradually looked down at Alice’s hands, tongue snaking out to wet her lips before she met the blue-eyed gaze waiting for her.

“You’re touching me?” It came out as a question and the girl from Wonderland (and other places) let her fingers creep higher and higher, pulling a gasp from her messenger.

“I am. Is that alright?” Her voice was a raspy whisper in the silence of the cottage. When she didn’t get an immediate reply, she stopped her hands from moving farther upward, worried she had misread the situation. Robin’s green eyes appeared to be examining every inch of Alice, searching for something. Her none-hurt arm slid up, her fingers setting Alice’s skin on fire from her wrist to her shoulder and across her back into the mess of curls waiting there. The portal-jumper slammed her eyes shut, absorbing every caress against her skin, every white-hot touch. 

Robin wrapped her hand around the back of Alice’s neck and pulled her forward, crashing their lips together. 

Outside, snow began to silently drift down to the earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So hey, it's a chapter!  
> I weirdly struggled with this one. I knew what I wanted to do but not how to bang it out on the keyboard. 
> 
> Got there in the end didn't we?  
> Anywho, the next chapter isnt smut persay... but it's pretty close. I mean Robin is still injured so there's a limit to activities.  
> If it isn't your cup of tea, it's easily skipped and not vital to the story.
> 
> cheers!


	10. Clanging Pots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's morning

Robin woke in a familiar position: in Alice’s bed, propped up on her left side by what she assumed was Alice’s form, and the scent of the ocean surrounding her pounding head. There were two major differences this time though; one, she was very sure the headache was from the large quantity of rum she consumed, not physical trauma, and two, she was definitely more naked than usual. Mostly naked in fact. 

She attempted to open her eyes just enough to see that it was still early morning on the clock but felt the world start to spin, and slammed them shut again. With as much deliberation and care as she could muster, Robin wriggled sideways a bit away from Alice, and rolled softly onto her back, propping her head up on the pillow she found herself with complete control of. Her injuries only flared a little, but still under her threshold of pain. Besides, her head was more than making up for it. Robin took a stab at opening her eyes again and she was technically successful; they were open but she was in mild disbelief with her circumstances and she didn’t entirely trust them. 

The quilt was haphazardly thrown across her and Alice, but the archer was seeing a lot of skin. Her own bare chest was half-covered and the bright blonde beside her, though she had turned on her stomach after Robin moved, was clearly exposed from the waist up. Robin took in the expanse of skin with hungry eyes, every little freckle, every healed scar, every little tattoo (and there were a surprising number of those). The darker blonde’s hand seemed to move on its own, ignoring the strain in her healing shoulder, gliding her fingertips softly up the other woman’s back, pulling a shiver from her. 

Alice began to stir and flip over, moving sluggishly for the first time since Robin met her, and let out a groan. “Why are we on a boat? And why is it so bright? Someone kill me please.”

The archer laughed, her hand stilling it’s movement and drawing back. “We’re not on a boat, it’s bright because it’s seven in the morning, and no one is going to kill you, you have a hangover.”

“A hangover? That’s a stupid name for the monkey banging pots in my noggin.” Alice kept her eyes closed and draped her arms over her head to block any possible light. Robin was quite suddenly aware that she was staring at Alice’s naked chest. “Are you sure I’m not going to die? It might be easier than trying to get up.”

“Huh?” Robin was too dumbfounded by the new view (and quite possibly still a bit drunk) to immediately notice Alice had uncovered her eyes and was now watching her intently, a smirk painted on her features. 

“Want I should make you a painting? Might last a bit longer.” Robin quickly schooled her features and glanced away, trying to be as nonchalant as possible. The other girl burst out laughing but made no move to cover herself. “Oh now you want to be coy? Where’s the fearless girl from last night?” 

“Speaking of, what.. uh.. What do you remember?” Robin sat up slowly, gripping the quilt to her front. She wasn’t sure what of her mind was memories and what was dreams.

“What do _you_ remember?” countered Alice, the half-smile on her face stretching into a toothy grin. Robin closed her eyes again, searching around through the hungover mess of her head.

_Robin has her hand tangled in a mess of blonde curls. She’s lost in a swirl of blues: sapphire, cerulean, azure, cobalt, indigo, it’s as if the girl before her could change them at will. Then she’s bringing the eyes towards her, smashing her lips into Alice’s, the taste of rum mixing with something citrusy, something so very Alice. After barely a second, she can feel the other girl responding, her hands lifting off Robin’s knees and burying into the archer’s darker blonde, pulling them impossibly closer. Robin’s right hand, not wanting to be left out even if it hurts, shoots up and circles around Alice, seizing the back of her dress and urging her forward, until she is straddling the archer’s crossed legs._

_The need to breathe separates them, foreheads pressing together, lips going in for more over and over again, the air becoming full of pants and whimpers. Alice’s hands glide down to the hem of the overshirt Robin has on to stave off the cold neither of them had felt for hours now, tugging on the edge, waiting for the other girl to get the hint. Reluctant to surrender the other woman's mouth, Robin withdraws and lifts her good arm, letting Alice slide the shirt up and off her left side before coming down off the right. The archer shivers, anticipation filling all the empty spaces inside her._

_As soon as the overshirt is off, Alice swoops back down to capture Robin’s lips, fingers already trying to slip inside the thin material of the shirt underneath, kneading the soft skin she finds there. In turn, Robin’s hands both return to Alice’s back, desperately trying to undo the corset laces, her fingers fumbling with the unfamiliar get-up. Usually she’s better at stuff like this, but she must be really drunk. Or really nervous. She pulls back and leans around the other girl a bit, hoping to get a glimpse at the ridiculously hard to undo knot. “Seriously, why is there not a zipper here!”_

_Alice giggles into Robin’s shoulder and begins placing little kisses from the base of her neck up to the back of her ear. “What’s a zipper?”_

_“It’s a kind of tie thing that has teeth and goes up and down and-” Robin loses her train of thought as Alice trails her lips back down the archer’s neck before leaning away, hands working quickly behind her own back. Within seconds, the corset is sailing across the room, landing carelessly on a hanging set of wooden hummingbirds._

_But Alice doesn’t stop there. She wastes no time pulling her dress over her head, leaving her in just her short chemise and what drunk Robin calls ‘long undershorts’ (though she’s pretty sure there’s a fancy name for them that sober her knows). Not that it matters because the chemise is soon flung somewhere as well and the part of Robin’s brain that cares about words shuts down._

_She is the most breathtaking thing Robin has ever seen. Her hair is a wild mess of fire-lit blonde and her pupils are blown so wide the blue is just a sliver in both eyes. She’s suddenly bashful, covering her bare chest with crossed arms, waiting for Robin to say or do something._

_“Hey, come here.” The darker blonde reaches out and gently pries Alice’s arms apart before resting her own hands on the bright blonde’s hips. Holding Alice’s gaze, Robin says the one thing her brain keeps repeating over and over. “You’re beautiful.”_

_Tenderly, Robin shifts forward, holding Alice’s hips in place as she peppers kisses across her shoulders, moving at an agonizing pace. Spurred on by the feeling of a hand burying itself in her hair, Robin turns her attentions downward until she is parallel with a small rosy nipple. Her mouth open but not quite touching, the archer spares a glance upwards, and is captivated by the sight of the woman above her: back arching, eyes screwed shut, lower lip caught between her teeth as if to hold in a moan._

_Robin is determined to free that moan and swiftly wraps her lips around the pink nub in front of her. The sound that escapes Alice’s mouth is a sweet melody in Robin’s ears, sending a bolt of heat coursing through her veins on a crash collision with her core._

  
  


Robin’s eyes fluttered open, pulled from her reverie by a familiar pressure on her lap. Alice had her knees on either side of the archer, her hands braced against Robin’s hips, waiting for her to come back to reality. 

“I remember some clothing being lost, and some… touching, but did we…?” Blushing, the injured girl let her hands wander, noting that Alice, like herself, was still wearing bottoms. It was taking all of Robin’s willpower not to press her hips upward, just to see if Alice moaned the same sober. 

“Well, things got quite intimate last night, as you can see we both lost our upper garments...BUT,” Alice brought one of her hands up to gently tap Robin on the nose with a smile, “Someone just had to go and pass out on me!”

The archer flopped back and let out a loud groan, covering her face in an attempt to smother herself. “I did what? Oh gods that’s embarrassing!”

She felt the woman on top of her lean down and tug at the pillow until Robin yielded, too intrigued with the feel of Alice’s body pressed against hers to put up much of a fight. Alice whacked her with the pillow before throwing it down on the floor and stealing a chaste kiss. “It was cute. You fell asleep and snuggled up, and it was wonderfully adorable. Now, I would really like to throw up because the world is very upside -down at the moment.” 

With that, Alice rolled off Robin, and started turning a bit green. 

“Today, I’m taking care of you. Hangovers are unfortunately my specialty.” The archer sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed, making a mental list of the things she was going to need.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey look, it's a chapter
> 
> update: I posted this at 3am last night and have since gone through an edited a bit haha. I was just so excited to post that I couldn't wait.
> 
> second update: chapter 11 will probs be up in like.... six hours


	11. Funny Looking-Boxes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice meets someone new

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> make sure you read chapter ten (they were posted within hours of each other and you don't want to miss it!)

Alice’s humming filled the cold air as she practically skipped along the trail towards the market place, feeling lighter than air. Sure, last night wasn’t exactly the way she wanted to approach things with Robin but it was messy, and funny, and surprising. And with Robin taking such care with her that morning, Alice really wanted to do something in return. 

After teasing Robin a bit about falling asleep before things got really interesting, Alice started to feel the full weight of her hangover and spent a good deal of the morning watching her now least favorite kind of alcohol pay a visit to her mop bucket. Her archer (no, not hers, she had to stop thinking like that) was shockingly adept in the kitchen, even if she had to use her non-dominant hand for pretty much everything, and soon she was practically force-feeding a resistant Alice bacon, eggs, and toast. When the sickly blonde asked for something to drink, Robin insisted on orange juice to wash down the little white pills she was handed (and these weird chalky tablets that tasted horrible) and told Alice not to ingest any dairy until the evening, claiming that she would only feel worse if she did. 

The pirate’s daughter observed the other woman, not missing the way she winced when anything sounded louder than a moderate hushed tone and took just a smidge longer outside emptying the mop bucket. She was clearly hungover too, and yet she did her best to keep a smile on her face, choosing to focus on the usually bubbly blonde instead.

Which was why Alice was braving the new snow to trek to the nearby town to get the archer’s bow restrung and buy some arrows to replace the ones that were smashed. 

She felt funny carrying the bow and quiver on her back, so used to a sword or daggers for defense. Every step she took, the weapons bounced a little against her body and she started to wonder how Robin could stand that feeling all the time. Though, she supposed it wasn’t much different than having a sheath attached to your hip for a sword, or the feeling of a dagger hilt pressing into your wrist. 

Her feet at last hit cobblestone littered with salt. She made her way down the paved road that started just out of town and wound downhill between an increasing number of little wood houses with thatched roofs. The closer she got to the town square, the larger and more dense the houses became, until they were a solid row on either side, only the occasional alleyway to separate blocks. The street widened just a bit as it emptied out into the center of town, an area bustling with activity. Every side of the square was lined with stalls, snow still melting off the metal roofs gleaming in the afternoon sun, peddlers selling all sorts of goods from around their realm (and some from beyond). 

Having never had a reason before, Alice wasn’t quite certain where to find a fletcher, and decided to start on the end of the nearest row and wander until she spotted one semi-methodically. The pirate’s daughter did her best not to be distracted by the many interesting and shiny trinkets she passed, only detouring once or twice (or three times really). She found the most perfect wristband for Robin and eagerly paid the petite elderly man selling it. At a stall that sold little wooden crafts, she spotted a birdhouse shaped like a mushroom that she decided she just must have for her front garden. 

Alice had made it down one side of the square and halfway up the next, when she caught sight of a fletcher’s stall. She’d set her course that way when she felt a hand violently tug her arm back, her feet grasping for purchase on the slippery wet cobblestones.

“Just who are you and why do you have that bow?!” A tall woman with fiery red hair and a scowl spun Alice around, and continued to grip her wrist tightly. The blonde wasn’t positive who it was that stood before her, but she could wager a guess, if the piercing way she was being analyzed was any indication. The woman began to tap her foot impatiently, free hand coming to rest on her hip; the family resemblance was becoming uncanny. “Well? Care to tell me where my daughter is and why you have her- is it broken? What happened?!”

“I’m just taking it to be fixed. Robin is fine. Well, she will be. She sort of took a tumble and is a bit bruised and banged, but I bandaged her up and she’s, well not good as new, but okay and - ” Alice was inexplicably nervous, her mouth running away with her thoughts, her mind over-analyzing her every word choice. Banged? Could she have picked a worse word?

The redhead held up her hand to cease the younger girl’s rambling and let go of her arm with the other. “And just how exactly do you know my daughter?” 

Alice’s mind flashed to the night before: the archer’s fingers skating over Alice’s body in a desperate need to touch everywhere, her own lips grazing Robin’s toned stomach, the way the other girl had moaned her name in her ear, the feel of Robin’s mouth on her skin. A blush crept up her face and she had a hard time making eye contact with the mother of the girl probably lounging on her bed as they spoke. “Um, She’s been delivering my papa’s letters to me for a while and um... when she was injured, I took her in. She’s staying with me ‘cause of the cold and such. Plus the trek home is so long.”

There was a long silence, the older woman studying her as if solving a puzzle. 

“Alice?” The woman examined her incredulously, “I haven’t seen you since you were a wee thing!”

The girl from the tower, still not used to being hugged, found herself wrapped up in a tight embrace, the air squeezed out of her lungs. The woman evidently knew her somehow, and Alice was racking her brain for any memory she might have of the redhead. 

“You’ve gotten so big! What are you, twenty-one, twenty-two?” Robin’s mother relaxed her hold on the blonde, leaning back to look her over. 

“Twenty-three.” Alice answered unsurely. This woman could not possibly know her, especially when she was little; the only person in and out of her tower had been her papa. And that wretched monster of a witch, but the regal woman before her looked nothing like her supposed mother. Then again, Gothel had tricked her papa using illusion magic…. Alice narrowed her eyes a bit, becoming a bit wary. “How do you know me? I’m fairly certain I’ve not met you before.”

“When I say I saw you, I mean I saw pictures of you when you were a child. Your father borrowed my camera on more than one occasion to take pictures and show you off to everyone. Quite the proud papa, that one.” The woman took a step back, laughing Robin’s laugh, and offered her hand. “I’m Zelena, Robin’s mother. I’ve also been the go between for your father, making sure you and he both get your letters and packages in a timely fashion.”

The curly blonde sighed in relief and tentatively shook Zelena’s hand, her mind reliving memories of her and her papa taking portraits with his funny little looking-box, challenging each other to make the silliest face or the craziest pose. She still had a few of the pictures in a box beneath her bed. 

“Now, let’s go get my daughter’s bow fixed up. I’m sure she’s going a little stir crazy without it. She always did need something to do with her hands.” Alice was confident Zelena hadn’t meant that last statement in any sort of way, but the wink that came with it made her wonder if Zelena could somehow read her thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you chapter 11 was coming soon haha
> 
> Zelena being a now not-so-secretly affectionate person is my favorite headcanon for her
> 
> I might do a one-shot of Nook and Alice taking pictures when she was a kid in the tower. Thoughts?


	12. Lucky Guesses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice surprises Robin

“Son of a bitch, where are they? I know she has some in here somewhere!” Robin was digging around in the storage room, searching for the spare bed sheets she knew must be in one of the crates. She was trying to do something nice for Alice while she was out running whatever errands she had to run, and after straightening up a bit (sweeping was out of the question, but she picked up the errant clothing at least and tried to wash the dishes), she had decided to change the sheets. Robin glanced at the last crate left on the bottom shelf and huffed as she bent over to pull it out, straining her right shoulder a bit in the process. “Okay, you better be in here or I’m gonna-”

“Gonna what?” Robin jumped back, startled by the sudden voice, and spun around to see a leering Alice behind her, with an ear-splitting grin painted on her face. 

"Crap! You scared the shit out of me!” The archer pressed her left hand against her chest in an attempt to calm her jack-hammering heart. She took a few breaths to get a hold of herself and stood up straighter, feeling a bit less jumpy. “I’m gonna have to put a bell on you! How long were you behind me?”

“Long enough to appreciate the view.” Alice said with a wink, stepping backwards to allow the other woman to pass. Robin skirted around the smaller girl, abandoning her quest in favor of hiding her reddening face. She could hear Alice following close behind, but she was focused on the wrapped packages that were sitting in the middle of the kitchen table, one long one, one medium, and two small ones. 

“What’s the occasion? Is it my birthday already?” Robin joked, still attempting to force the flush from her face. Alice swatted her good arm and motioned her to sit, sliding the pile of packages in front of her (minus one of the little ones). 

“Just open them you loon.” Robin stuck her tongue out in response, to which Alice was fast with a retort. “Don’t go making promises!”

The archer sucked her tongue back in quickly and grabbed the box closest, the long one, and started tearing the brown wrapping to bits, only slowing when she felt wood beneath her fingers. When she made a sizable hole she gasped, carefully removing her father’s bow, her bow, the bow she loved more than any item in the world, the one she hadn’t had the heart to look at since Alice brought it in from the snow all banged up with the string snapped. “Alice… You got it fixed?”

“Well it is my fault technically that it got broken so…” Robin was barely listening to her response, running her fingers lightly over the new bowstring, noting that the portal jumper who looked like she’d never shot an arrow in her life, had somehow chosen Robin’s favorite kind of string material. _‘Maybe I mentioned it in passing?’_ She lovingly set it down on the table, as if it might break all over again any second. “Open the next one!”

Rolling her eyes at the other woman’s excitement, Robin pulled the medium one towards her. It was wider than the first and the top crinkled a little when she squeezed it. Alice made to swat at her again when she kept squishing the top over and over, but Robin dodged sideways out of her reach. “Fine, fine, impatient much?”

The archer again ripped the paper to shreds, this time feeling leather and something softer. Removing the last layer she found a breath-taking new leather quiver filled with what had to be at least two dozen brand new arrows fletched with… grouse feathers? How did Alice know those were the feathers she liked? Another lucky guess? There were usually five or six choices at any decent fletcher’s stall, plus by the smell of them she had gotten them sealed with linseed as well, not a usual offering but would save Robin the hassle of doing it herself.

The quiver was made of a fine brown leather, well put together, but Robin saw a peculiar thing stamped on the strap. It was a crest composed of a shield with a lion inside it. The same crest she knew her father had tattooed on his forearm, the one she hoped to get tattooed herself one day. She felt tears start to well-up and she tilted her face to the ceiling, willing them to disappear. There was no way Alice could have guessed that. 

“Hey, how… how did you know what I liked? I mean the bowstring could have been a lucky guess, and maybe the arrows too but Alice, the lion crest. How did you know about that?” Robin brought her gaze back to the table and was absently smoothing the pad of her thumb across the engraving, finding comfort in it.

“Your mum told me of course! She even magicked up the stamp.” Robin dropped the quiver, some of the arrows spilling out onto the wood floor.

“My what.” 

“Your mother, you know, the woman who gave you life, who raised you, who changed your nappies, who taught you how to read, who-”

“I know who my mother is. I just didn’t know you knew her.” Robin was mildly panicking. 

"Met her at the market. Quite funny actually, she thought I was some sort of ruffian who'd stolen your bow and roughed you up a bit somewhere." Alice was apparently tickled by this; Robin however, was mortified. This was bad. She had never introduced her mom to anyone she'd been… intimate with, let alone a girl she actually may, kinda, like. A lot. And now they've gone and already become besties? _Fuck_. "She's quite lovely to talk to. Had lots of things to say about you. Also asked if I could bring you home for dinner in a few days, she misses you terribly."

The darker haired girl was speechless, mouth hanging ooen, brain struggling to file away this new information. Her mother not only met Alice, but invited her to dinner. Regaining her power of speech, Robin croaked out a reply, praying she wouldn't get the answer she knew was coming. "What'd you tell her?"

Alice leaned against the back of Robin’s chair and draped her arms around the other woman. She bent down and softly kissed Robin’s jawline from behind, moving with her kisses around to sit on the archer’s lap. Robin's entire body was on fire and she wasn't sure where Alice was going with this but she was not complaining. Placing one chaste kiss on her lips, Alice popped back up to tidy the table and threw back her response.

“I said I’d love to!”

The Wicked Witch's daughter let out a disappointed whine and let her head flop forward to meet the wood tabletop with a thud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow, a chapter!  
> I know it's short but I had a really hard time getting this one out.  
> Next one is gonna be a bit longer and the one after that... heh that's gonna be a doozy
> 
> Also I know some of you found the one-shot I posted ;P  
> I'm debating continuing it as a chapter story
> 
> ANNNNDDDDD I'm starting a non-magic AU for these two very soon


	13. Reading Loud

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice slips up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey a note at the top!
> 
> SO this is definitely more NSFW than any other chapter so far, so if that isn't your thing.... oops?

The women spent the next few days falling into a routine. Robin getting up early to cook breakfast, while Alice (ever the late riser after years of weird sleep patterns in the tower followed by perpetual jet lag from realm-hopping) woke up just in time to eat and then clean up after, followed by both going about a semi-normal day as if they had never met. Alice would run off to do whatever errands she deemed necessary, Robin spending the remaining morning hours stretching her shoulder, and using the area around the outside of the house to start small attempts at shooting her fixed bow. 

It was in the late afternoon that they would converge. The archer would retire inside and build a decent sized fire to cook whatever small game she’d managed to shoot and when Alice returned, they would sit at the table and eat, telling each other what they’d been up to and asking about this and that. It was comfortable and Alice was starting to wonder if everyday could be like this. If maybe Robin would want to stay with her even after she was healed. From what she’d told Alice, the darker blonde wasn’t entirely happy living at home with her mother at such a late age, but that didn’t mean she’d see Alice’s as a good change of pace. 

On the day before they were to eat dinner at Zelena’s, the portal-jumper gathered enough resolve to propose the idea. Well, sort of. 

They’d taken to reading in the evenings, more specifically Alice reading aloud while they sprawled across the bed, Robin’s head more often than not nested on the bright blonde’s lap. The first time Alice suggested they entertain themselves with books, Robin balked, only relenting when talk turned to Alice reading to her instead. So they had settled on a book of fairy tales from Arendelle, and read until one of them fell asleep (usually Robin).

“In the great square, the boldest among the boys would often tie their sledges to the country people’s carts, and go with them a good way. This was capital. But while they were all amusing themselves, and Kay with them, a great sledge came by; it was painted white, and in it sat someone wrapped in a rough white fur, and wearing a white cap. The sledge drove twice round the square, and Kay fastened his own little sledge to it, so that when it went away, he followed with it. It went faster and faster right through the next street-” Alice stopped mid-sentence, a light snoring coming from the woman in her lap. She ran her fingers through the dark blonde scattered across her legs and sighed, her index finger tracing along Robin’s jawline. The woman below her let out a soft satisfied sigh, a small smile gracing her features.  _ ‘I could do this every night for the rest of my life if she’d let me.’ _

Alice set the book aside and bent forward, pressing a light kiss on the corner of the archer’s mouth, seeing just how asleep she really was. Robin’s smile grew and Alice planted another, this one a little more on the cheek than the first, laughing internally when Robin’s face turned into an indignant frown. In retaliation, the head in her lap turned away to face down into the white fabric below and began nuzzling into the inner thighs it found. Alice instantly flushed, eyes closing as she bit her bottom lip, trying to keep her breathing even. Robin was  _ so close _ that the blonde sitting up had to physically stop herself from reacting, from burying her hands back into the mess of hair and guiding Robin right where she needed her.  _ ‘She’s still recovering. Her mother would kill me if she got hurt even more because of something we were doing. Plus maybe the other night was just a one-off…’ _

Since the night they got what Robin called “wasted,” they hadn’t done more than occasionally trade light kisses. Not that Alice didn’t want to do more, gods did she want more. But she could be patient. She was an expert at waiting when she had to be.

Robin’s good arm lifted to wrap around Alice’s waist, her head raising at the same time to meet the blue eyes staring down. A mischievous grin proceeded what Alice could only describe as a stream of tiny little fires spouting from Robin’s lips and landing all over the top realm-hopper’s barely clothed thighs. As her mouth would near Alice’s center, the archer would skip back and start at the other knee; after the third time, the bright blonde could stand it no longer and grabbed Robin by the sides of her head and drug her upwards until they were level. A smirk was planted firmly on the face before her. “You really are a little wicked, aren’t you?” 

“Yep.” Robin giggled her answer, shakily holding herself up on her palms. Leaning in, she captured Alice’s mouth, tongue tracing her lips, moaning when she was granted entrance. Alice turned on her side, shifting their bodies so Robin was able to lean on her good shoulder. Gently caressing the darker blonde’s face, Alice was lost in the shifting greens of Robin’s eyes and her mouth spoke before her mind could stop it.

“I wish you could stay here with me always.” 

There was a beat of silence. Alice wasn’t sure she spoke aloud, Robin had closed her eyes just prior to the declaration and hadn’t moved since.  _ ‘Maybe she fell asleep. Maybe I only said it in my head. Maybe I said it but she didn’t hear it. Maybe-’ _

She didn’t get to finish her list of maybes. The archer let out a little sigh, her eyes opening and locking on to the ones staring back. Bridging the gap, Robin leaned in and took Alice in a fierce kiss, knocking the portal-jumper on her back, allowing Robin to throw a leg over and sit astride. Both in just their undergarments, Alice was very sure the other woman could feel the heat of her skin rising with every slow downward grind. When their position shifted ever so slightly so Robin was once more to the side, now with their legs entangled, Alice bucked at the feeling of a knee pressing into her core and she let out a whimper into Robin’s mouth that did not go unnoticed. 

With a smug grin, the dark blonde leaned back and made a show of her right hand travelling downward, fingertips brushing the top edge of Alice’s long underwear. She skimmed them along, waiting for confirmation from the woman below her. Alice was light-headed from this turn of events, but managed to nod slightly. Robin let her hand glide under the fabric, skimming over the soft curls underneath and headed straight for her goal. 

“Oh fuck.” The words fell from Alice’s lips as two callused fingers began circling her clit. Desperately needing to be closer to the woman she unabashedly called her archer (at least in her head), Alice tugged at Robin’s undershirt until the other woman got the idea. The temporary loss of those two fingers was worth it once she was able to take a breast in each hand, flicking her thumbs over each nipple, before taking one in her mouth to roll it between her teeth. Just as she made to switch to Robin’s other breast, she felt the digits move downward from her clit to the wet heat below, teasing her entrance with shallow dips. She lifted her head to look Robin in the face, intent on telling her off for being so frustrating, but was stopped by the color she found waiting. Robin’s eyes were near black but the green around the edges seemed to almost glow; if Alice hadn’t already known that the archer’s magic was gone, she’d swear that’s what it was. “Robin?”

“Did you mean what you said?” Her voice was low and raspy, sending a shiver running down Alice’s spine in a most delicious way. The larger girl seemed suddenly very serious, her body completely still, fingers poised at the ready. Only her eyes, darting between Alice’s bright blues, gave away how vulnerable and open she was in that moment. And Alice realized she did mean it. She would give anything to end every day that way: tangled up with her archer after reading a good book, fire crackling in the background, the knowledge that when she awoke, it would be to another day filled with her ...love. She nodded in affirmation, not trusting herself to properly convey what she was feeling.

Robin was still another moment, before she lowered her mouth slowly to meet Alice’s, and at the same time let her fingers push into warm velvet, curling at their apex into the soft spongy area that had the bright blonde clutching at her back with every stroke. Alice felt like she was vibrating all over, the orgasm building inside her scattering all her thoughts but one: Robin. And she wanted, no  _ needed _ Robin to come with her. To crest over that edge when she herself went tumbling over. 

One hand still clawing at the defined back muscles of the woman atop her, she moved her other to the stretchy waist of Robin’s leggings, and slipped her hand inside, wasting no time mirroring the archer’s movements. 

“JesusAliceFuck!” Alice let out a throaty laugh at the exclamation but it was cut short by Robin redoubling her efforts as she moved with the rhythm of Alice’s hand. 

The sight above her was breathtaking. Robin’s eyes were squeezed shut, her back arched, dark blonde hair cascading around her face, the muscles in her shoulders and back rippling. The portal-hopper was not going to last much longer and judging by the shallow pants coming from her archer, she was close, too. Perching up on her free elbow, Alice let her tongue travel from the middle of Robin’s chest up to just below her ear, sucking on the pulse point she found there. 

That did it. Robin dropped down to her left elbow, bringing their upper halves flush, as her orgasm hit her full on. Alice could feel every wave radiating outward from where her fingers were still trapped and somehow Robin had the presence of mind to thrust one last time into the bright blonde, effectively shoving her off the cliff and into bliss. 

As soon as her breathing slowed, Alice shed her top, pulling Robin in close to rest on her chest, stroking her hair lightly. Robin draped her arm across the other woman’s stomach and hummed, tracing lazy patterns around Alice’s hips. Feeling her eyes starting to droop, exhaustion taking over, Alice attempted to cover the two with the extra blanket she’d picked up from the market, the sweat on their bodies turning cold. Satisfied in more than one respect, she allowed herself to drift off to dreamland, absently noting Robin whispering something but she was too tired to make it out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next two chapters are already skeletoned out so shouldnt take near as long.  
> Shouldn't.  
> butttt my kids started virtual academy for the fall semester and my middle one is using my comp a few more days so sorry ha


	14. Too Many Hats when you Just need a Scarf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robin's time to be upfront

Rounding the last bend, Robin adjusted her bow nervously and approached the front gate to the family farm. Everything looked how it always did this time of year; the animals were all safely in their stalls and coops, a light blanket of snow covered the pathways and capped the fence posts, a clear line of smoke was rising from the main chimney. It used to feel like a weight lifting off her shoulders whenever she crossed the threshold of the wooden gate, but now, now she felt different. Apprehension filled her chest, and a little bit of worry about what her mother really thought of her absence. Not for the first time, she wished Alice was there with her.  _ ‘No, I need to clear things up with Mom first. I don’t want to have the whole “Mom, I’m gay!” conversation in the middle of dinner.’ _

Her boots crunched down the path, the only noise save a few stray whinnies and muffled clucks. The front door was the same dark green, now decorated with a bright green wreath, and Robin almost knocked instead of walking right in. Why did she suddenly feel like a visitor at her own home? 

She didn’t get to contemplate long before the door swung open wide and she was met with her mother’s smirking face. “Well what did the flying monkey drag back here? Couldn’t be my daughter, she usually checks in after a day or so of going on a bender.” 

“It’s a long story. One I would rather tell in the warm house instead of outside freezing my ass off on the front porch. Can I come in now?” Robin huffed indignantly, shifting from foot to foot, trying not to look her mother in the eye. After a few seconds of careful consideration, Zelena stepped aside to let her daughter pass, quickly shutting the wooden door against the chilly wind.

Robin made her way down the hall and immediately dashed up the stairs to the second floor, making a beeline for her room. She just wanted to take a shower and change clothes before dealing with her mom, but Zelena had other ideas.

“Robin! Just where do you think you’re going! We have some talking to do!” The redhead’s voice echoed up the stairs and through Robin’s open doorway, but Robin took little notice, stripping off her clothes and dashing across the hall into the bathroom, fluffy towel in hand. Praying her mother would just let her get clean first. 

Turning on the waterproof radio she’d nabbed last time she was in Storybrooke, Robin stepped under the steaming hot water, letting it wash off the tension in her shoulders. She took her time thoroughly shampooing her hair and scrubbing her body, soaping gently around her right shoulder. She couldn’t help but wish Alice was there to do it for her, the soreness in her back restricting her reach. Her thoughts drifted back to the night before, to the bright blonde that never seemed to be too far from her mind at any moment.

A loud banging on the door brought her to the present, and Robin sighed, shutting off the water. Wrapping her towel around her, she opened the door to find her mother already heading down the stairs. “Come on down when you are dressed, I need your help preparing dinner!”

Robin groaned, knowing the woman could have just magicked up something.

Descending the staircase barefoot in a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve shirt, the archer tried to stretch her shoulder to alleviate the soreness she had certainly brought on herself, not looking forward to the amount of chopping and stirring she was no doubt about to be tasked with. Zelena was already in the kitchen, a recipe book on its stand and an apron tied around her waist, looking like a magic Betty Crocker. 

“Don’t dawdle, we’ve lots to do. Start chopping those carrots and add them to the salad bowl.” Zelena didn’t look up from the chicken she was dressing, hands working on autopilot, years of fixing her own father’s dinner as a child allowing her to work without thought. “And start talking.”

Robin waited until after she’d set up a cutting board and started on the first carrot, thinking how to explain the circumstances of how she and Alice met without sounding like that insufferable Snow and Charming. “I got injured while delivering Hook’s letter to his daughter. She found me and took care of me until I was strong enough to come home. That’s it. Now I’m back.”

Zelena snorted, shoving the bird in the oven and turning to face her daughter. “Oh I’m sure she took care of you.”

“Mom! It’s not- I’m not-” 

“Oh, let’s not beat around the bush, love. I know more than you think.” The redhead began peeling potatoes and tossing them in the pot of water boiling on the stove. “That girl, the pirate’s daughter, she’s quite the looker, isn’t she? Blonde hair, blue eyes, not your usual type but beautiful nonetheless.”

Robin paused.  _ ‘Usual type? How does she..’ _ The dark blonde cocked an eyebrow at her mother.

“What, surprised I know about your many, many late night rendezvouses? You have quite the reputation going at the taverns nearby, it wasn’t like I had to do much digging.” The archer made an undignified noise in response which Zelena paid no attention to. “Seems you are intent on working your way through the entire population of eligible young women. Well, you  _ were _ . Some of the barkeeps I spoke to yesterday gave the impression they were actually  _ worried _ when nearly a week passed without you gracing their establishments.” 

“You make me sound like some sort of drunken womanizer!” Robin wasn’t angry, more shocked that her mother had known all this time about not only her proclivity for exclusively females, but that Robin was by no means known for having second ‘dates’ with anyone. Which was technically still true. Robin frowned to herself at this realization.  _ ‘I’ve never taken Alice on even a first date. Oh, god. I think that makes tonight our first date.’ _

“Darling, if the shoe fits..” With the chicken in the oven and potatoes boiling, Zelena took a seat at the table, conjuring up a green apple martini for herself and a beer for Robin. “Sit.”

“But I’m not done with the-” A chair pushed itself outward with the flick of a hand.

“Sit.” Robin knew better than to argue with that tone, setting down her knife and shuffling over to the proffered seat. She collapsed in the chair and began tracing the familiar grain patterns in the wood tabletop. The same table that sat in her childhood home back in Storybrooke, where she labored over mountains of schoolwork and made life-altering decisions (like whether or not to accept Jimmy Marks’ eighth grade dance proposal). 

“So tell me, about this girl that has you willing to heal the slow way for days instead of sending a message to me to heal you in a matter of minutes?” Zelena sat back and crossed her arms, watching her only child carefully. Robin could feel her gaze burning into the side of her head, looking for any indication of a lie.

“She’s… she’s....” Robin searched for a reason to deny how she felt about Alice, but really, what was the point? Her mother  _ always _ knew when she was lying, a skill Robin always found irritating, especially in her teenage years. She sighed, trying to find the right words to describe the woman she couldn’t stop thinking about. “She’s wonderful, and happy, and caring, and so… Alice.”

The kitchen fell quiet, Robin holding her breath, waiting for whatever sarcastic comment her mother was going to throw at her. The redhead had always hated the people Robin dated growing up. Jimmy Marks was too skinny, Ryder Brock was too tall, Neal Nolan was too pretty, etc. Every time she introduced her mother to a boy she was dating, she spent the next week defending her choice, ultimately unable to see anything but the pointed-out flaw and having to break it off. It became exhausting to the point where she stopped bringing anyone home and when she figured out she liked girls, well, she figured that would be a whole other issue. “Hey mom, can I ask you something?”

“Anything my little green bean.”

“When… when did you know? About me, I mean.” Robin’s voice was small and she kept her eyes trained on the grooves in the wood, for some reason nervous to hear the answer.

“Oh Robin, I’ve always known. When you were five, you used to go on and on about how pretty Melody in your kindergarten class was. That was the beginning of what I like to call ‘Robin is either very interested in the physical aesthetics of people or  _ very _ gay.’ I didn’t want you to feel pressured to tell me, so I left it alone. I did find it amusing the boys you would bring home. It was like watching you try on a bunch of different hats when really you just needed a good scarf. The first time you brought a girl to the house and giggled while asking if your ‘friend’ could sleepover, I quite nearly said something.” Zelena drained the rest of her martini and stood to check on the chicken. Basting the bird and placing it back in the oven, she turned to face Robin, leaning back on the counter. “I’m glad you finally told me.”

Her daughter sat quietly, absorbing the notion that her mother had known all along. Every time she thought she was being sneaky by waiting to kiss a girl until they were up in her room, every time she gushed to her mom about a new friend she had made at school that was just the prettiest ever, every time she didn’t use pronouns to describe her dates. All that time, she could have just come out. Almost twenty years of thinking her mother would never understand or accept her, and she’d been silently watching her daughter make her own way in the world. “Mom, you’re… you’re okay with this? With me being...gay? You’re not disappointed? Even though in this realm it’s not nearly as accepted as in Storybrooke?”

“Sweetheart, of course I’m okay with this! You’re my daughter, my flesh and blood. There is very, very little you could ever do to disappoint me, and finding love is not one of those things.” The older woman pulled Robin up into a crushing embrace, and Robin for once didn’t want to shrink away, taking comfort in arms she had grown up feeling around her anytime she was sad or hurt. Only now she was overcome with relief. “There’s something else, isn’t there?”

Robin pulled back and geared herself up for the fight she knew was coming. 

“Alice she… She asked me to stay with her.” Before her mother could respond, Robin went on, “And before you say anything, I know it seems like we’ve only known each other a week and it sounds like crazy Snowing talk but I can’t explain it. She just feels… right.”

A knock sounded clearly through the house and the two women turned in the direction of the front door.  _ ‘She’s early for once.’ _

“Get that, will you? I suppose I’ll need to meet the woman whisking my daughter away to live her fairy tale life.” Zelena shooed Robin out of the kitchen and began draining the potatoes. The shocked archer was still processing when she reached the door and wrenched it open.

“Sorry I’m early, I got your note with the map here and I found myself with little to do today except wonder what you were up t-” Robin cut off Alice’s rambling mouth with her own, for once not caring if her mother was to walk up behind her and see. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A wild chapter attacked! What will you do?
> 
> just kidding. I like this chapter. I like the idea of Z being a silent cheerleader robin's whole life, secretly watching and supporting her, but knowing that robin wouldn't take her encouragement


	15. Ticking Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice battles some old feelings

-Earlier that same day-

  
  


Alice knew she was gone before her eyes even opened. 

Reaching out beside her, she encountered not a warm body, but a roll of parchment and something thorny. She tried not to be disappointed, Robin always did rise before Alice to make breakfast, but leaving a note was new. Leaving a note meant Robin wasn’t going to be flitting around the kitchen, cracking eggs and singing snippets of songs even the portal-jumper had never heard. A note meant her archer had left her behind. 

She rolled on her side and unraveled the parchment, twisting the tiny rose in her fingers as she read the hastily scribbled words.

_ Alice,  _

_ Sorry to leave so early, I have some things I need to clear up with my mother before dinner tonight. She usually likes to have dinner around six, so if you leave at four, you should be fine. I left you a rough map of how to get there, pretty simple, goes right through town so try not to get distracted!  _

_ See you soon _

_ Robin _

Alice traced the little heart next to Robin’s signature, her own skipping a beat. She tried to ignore the long-buried emotion that began to well-up inside, one she thought had since overcome giving any purchase in her heart.

The pirate’s daughter had spent a great deal of her life living alone, eating alone, traveling alone, but the familiar emptiness that settled in her bones as she sat up to look around her little cottage, devoid of anyone but her, was a dark passenger in her soul once more hitching a ride. An emptiness she hadn’t felt since the first year or two she was left alone in that circular prison on high, when she would spend days staring out the window until her body forced her to sleep, praying with each little movement of a branch or a bush that her papa would be coming back for her. She had had to find ways to stave off the loneliest then, mainly talking to her stuffed animals, and writing letters to her papa (and tossing them out the window in the hopes the wind would carry them away). It was then that she’d learned the tower would give her what she needed to live and some of what she wanted, like a cupcake on her birthday, but when it came to anything that would connect her to the outside world, the tower refused. She once asked it to provide her with a pigeon (so she could send messages). It responded with a pigeon statue which Alice chucked out of the tower in anger.

In the years after she escaped the tower, Alice’s loneliness changed. It was no longer an acute kind of hurt, but a dull ache that sat in the background, coloring every interaction with a living being. She was the first to chat with a stranger but never held on to anyone longer than a couple weeks, her subconscious way of ensuring she could not be abandoned again. 

That was before Robin. The intriguing mystery messenger captured her attention for months through letters and gifts, and she supposed that distant affection was easy to slip past her defenses. By the time they met in person, Alice felt herself already beyond what she previously would have considered ‘safe attachment.’ She’d let Robin fill the broken cracks in her heart and Alice had felt content with the archer in a way that only a certain pirate had made her feel before. Robin could never replace her papa, but when the darker blonde was around, Alice could almost forget that he wasn’t just out on a short adventure with his pirate crew, due to return any day now with a new token for her. 

And now she was sitting on the edge of her bed, trying desperately to remind herself that Robin wasn’t gone forever, just back at her mother’s house, waiting for Alice to join them for dinner. She glanced at one of her many clocks, this one with a blue striped rim and jewels where the numbers should be. Today would be a good day, she was determined to make it so.  _ ‘It’s nine in the morning now and it’s about a two hour journey, so only…. Seven hours until I can reasonably leave and not seem like an absolute loon.’ _

Alice spent the morning hours debating what to wear, so worried about impressing a woman she had technically already met that she spread every article of clothing she owned out on the bed, playing mix and match until she settled on an outfit, then second guessing it and starting again. She made an attempt to talk some sense into herself, after all, not only had she met Zelena already, but they had a lovely afternoon chatting about her papa and had been delighted to find out a little more about her archer’s old life in Storybrooke. Still, even after consulting Mr. Rabbit and a few of her other stuffed friends, her anxiety was through the roof. Should she wear the blue dress and brown cloak? Green dress and blue cloak? What about hair ribbons? Did she have a clean chemise? 

Side-tracked by that thought and with a bit of searching, she gathered up all the underclothes and gave them a good scrubbing just to be safe, laying them out along the mantle to dry. She laid her chosen outfit on the table to check for any spots or stains, meticulously scruntizing each tiny detail for even the smallest loose button. Nothing, and a side-eyed peek at her fish-tin clock revealed it was still only eleven thirty. 

She tried reading to fill the time, but kept rereading the same words over and over. She tried painting, but her brush just hung in the air without a drop of color, her mind unable to settle on an idea that didn’t involve both of them in various states of undress. She tried writing her papa a new letter, but every other sentence was about Robin and in her preoccupation, she began writing  _ to _ Robin on accident. 

Alice tossed down her quill in frustration and slumped back in the kitchen chair. Her eyes wandered to the nearest ticking tormenter, what amounted to an artist’s color wheel with hands (usually one of her favorites), and cursed the slow moving pointers placed firmly at one forty-six.  _ ‘Guess I could go ahead and wash up then.’ _

Two hours and two tubs full of hot water later, an  _ extremely  _ clean and well-dressed Alice emerged from the cottage with a triumphant smile and a small sack. She had her favorite blue dress on, paired with her light brown cloak and the first ribbon Robin left for her wound around one of her curls. A thin layer of snow covered the steps down the porch and was already melting into the soil of the path ahead; even though the sun was shining, there was still a chill in the air and Alice could see her breath with every exhale. “Best get going, Got a couple places to stop on the way!”

She waved an emphatic goodbye to the fat squirrel who seemed to now permanently live in one of the birdboxes by the porch and started on her way, bouncing happily with every step. 

  
  


The front gate to the farm was propped open when Alice arrived; a good thing too, as she was laden down with her few but cumbersome purchases. While in the tub, she had dreamt up the most wonderful hostess gift for Zelena, and though it did take her stopping at a few shops and spending twenty minutes in an alley by herself, the large package she was toting now was by far worth it. 

She gently set the cloth covered dome on the wide porch next to her and shifted the smaller items (smaller relative to the three foot dome of course) to the crook of her left arm so she could knock. It didn’t take long after knocking for the door to swing inwards and reveal her archer in the most peculiar clothing yet.

“Sorry I’m early, I got your note with the map here and I found myself with little to do today except wonder what you were up t-” Alice was cut off by the sudden press of Robin’s lips to her own, instinctively shuffling forward to grasp the taller girl’s good shoulder to steady herself as the kiss all but melted her into the floor. Although dimly aware of the click of heels emanating from somewhere behind Robin, the portal-hopper was still startled by the clearing of a throat nearby. The women jumped apart, the archer’s cheeks a deep crimson as she pulled Alice over the threshold and into the pleasantly warm interior, hooking their arms together. They were halfway down the main hall when Alice remembered the dome out on the porch.

“Oh no! Hold on!” She shoved the packages into Robin’s arms and dashed back to the porch, hauling the dome inside and setting it off to the side of the foyer. “This is for later but I didn’t want it to freeze out there. Or get lonely.”

“Lonely?” Robin raised a questioning brow at Alice’s choice of words but the curly blonde ignored it, not wanting to ruin the surprise. 

The kitchen she was led into smelled absolutely divine, Alice instantly able to pick out the scent of chicken and what she was pretty sure was caramelized carrots. Oh, how she hoped there were caramelized carrots. 

Zelena, who had disappeared after breaking up their not so innocent greeting, was setting serving dishes out on the wooden table between four place settings.  _ ‘Wait, four?’ _

“Mom, this is - “

“Alice! How lovely to see you again! How was your trip? Find any good trinkets on the way?” Zelena rounded the table and pulled the blonde into a tight hug. Alice stiffened a bit, still not used to hugs even after years of being around people again; if Zelena noticed, she paid it no attention. The redhead released the girl and looked her over, and upon seeing the melting snow dripping from Alice, chastised her daughter at once, “Robin, come take the girl’s cloak and show her where she can set her things down.”

“Of course, Mom. Sorry, Alice, let me grab that and put it by the fire to dry off.” Alice shivered when Robin’s fingertips brushed her shoulders, pulling the small sack from her back as well as her cloak. 

“Before I forget, I washed your… what did you call those odd undergarment things… Leggings! That’s right, leggings. I washed them and your undershirt. You left them when you got dressed and I figured I may as well bring them with me, in case you needed them. I think I finally got the last of the blood stains out, tricky bastards. Honestly I was surprised you didn’t pull them on before you got out of bed with how cold it was this morning, I know I did. We really should have added more wood to the fire before going to sleep, though I guess we were a bit busy… Why are you staring at me like that? What are you doing?” Alice had been distracted with pulling out the mentioned items from the sack the darker blonde was holding open for her, unaware Zelena had paused her setting of the table to give Robin a most telling look. Robin in turn was making some sort of frantic cutting motion across her own throat with her free hand and deliberately not looking at her mother. “Have I said something wrong?”

“My daughter is attempting to stop you from possibly revealing any sordid details about her stay at your cottage. Pay her no mind dear, she always was a bit uptight.” Zelena let out a short laugh and nudged her daughter in the ribs, earning a glare from the scoffing woman. Alice wrinkled her brow, a bit confused about the whole thing.

“Sordid details? What kind would those be?” She thought for a moment, “Oh, you mean like intimate details? Like whether or not Robin and I have-”

“ALICE!” The now furiously blushing archer dropped the sack and rushed to hastily cover Alice’s mouth with her hand. Surprised, the realm-hopper let out a squeak and giggled, more than a little amused by Robin’s sudden sense of propriety. Robin’s evergreen, ever-changing eyes were pleading with Alice to be quiet. “Alice, if I let go, will you please not indulge my mom? I’ll show you my room.”

The curly blonde pretended to weigh her options, then nodded. Robin dropped her arm with a loud exhale and Alice stuck out her tongue playfully. “Okay. Now. Mom, I’m going to give her a tour of the house. Can you let us know when dinner is ready?”

Robin didn’t wait for a response, gathering up Alice’s cloak and pulling the woman back down the hall. When they reached the foyer again, the expert marksman made a show of tossing the cloak just right through the doorway to the living room, landing it perfectly across the back of the chair closest to the fireplace. She turned to Alice, a smug look on her face.

“Show-off.” Alice snickered at the way Robin’s face morphed to a frown and gave her a peck on the cheek. “I’m only kidding. You are a perfect shot as always.”

Alice wanted to touch everything in Robin’s bedroom, wanted to lift up every trinket and examine it like it held the secrets to all the realms, because to Alice, they did. They were little pieces of her archer’s soul in physical form, the same way Alice’s things were. She ran her fingertips along the edge of the short, wide dresser whose top was littered with the usual items: a brush, a few hairpins, a couple of those odd stretchy hair ribbons, and a funny looking rectangular box that magically showed the time whenever her hand passed near it. The walls were littered with large posters of very strange things with stranger words. “What’s ‘Indigo Girls’?”

“They’re a band back in The Land Without Magic.” Robin was idly rearranging the fletching materials and arrow shafts on her dark wooden desk in the far corner of the room.

“A band of what?” Alice was puzzled.

“Like a music band.” The other girl’s words didn’t clear up the matter in the least, leaving Alice with more questions than before.

“But the painting is of a cat on some sort of big lute?” The realm-jumper studied the picture more carefully, sure she must have missed the people in it. She heard Robin approaching behind her and a hand circled her waist, a familiar body pressed against her back and she leaned into the touch. How could someone she had known such a short while feel so much like home?

“Maybe I’ll take you to see them play someday.” Robin hummed into the back of Alice’s shoulder. They stood there like that for a few minutes, the curly blonde continuing her examination of the wall before her, the archer bringing her other arm up and snuggling close.

“Girls! Dinner is ready!” 

The shrill call broke them apart and Robin sighed. “Let’s go get this over with.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. My wife surprised me with chickens and ducks a few weeks ago and I've been building their enclosures along with the kids virtual learning and the sudden uptick in Etsy orders. SO! I haven't abandoned any of my fics, just slower to post.


	16. Robin in the Library

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice meets the Family

The first thing Robin noticed as she dropped off the last stair and into the foyer was the extra coat hanging on the rack by the front door, followed quickly by a second voice in the kitchen with her mother. She tightened her grip on Alice’s hand, pulling her close behind as if to protect her from the inevitable introductions they were barreling towards. Alice must have felt the tension shift and she tugged Robin backwards, spinning her so they were face to face.

“What’s the matter?” Alice’s hand smoothed along Robin’s cheek, and the archer nuzzled into the touch, trying to pull a little strength for what she knew was coming.

“Just remember that I … like you a lot. No matter what stories you may hear.” She turned and placed a small kiss on Alice’s palm before grabbing it and leading her the rest of the way into the kitchen.

“There you are! Thought you may have gotten _distracted_ upstairs.” Zelena was carving the chicken on the kitchen island and filling the four plates placed in a semi-circle around the foil baking pan. Robin bit back a cry of protest and unconsciously wrapped her arm around Alice’s waist. Zelena motioned behind them to the table and the women turned in unison, Robin’s inner voice screaming when she saw the owner of the extra coat. 

“Robin, dear! How lovely to see you again!” The dark-haired woman stood and came around the table to embrace her niece. 

“Aunt Regina! Hey, what are you doing here? Mom didn’t say anything about you coming today.” The youngest Mills shot her mother a glare, which was ignored entirely by Zelena who set the dinner plates down in front of the girls as they settled into their chairs, side-by-side with Alice across from Zelena and Robin across from Regina. “In fact, I thought you were off on some adventure with Henry?”

The former Evil Queen chuckled, raising her suddenly full glass of wine to take a long sip. “I was, but my presence was requested and how could I say no to a sit-down meal with my favorite niece and her…?”

“Alice! Alice Jones ma’am, nice to meet ya!” Never one to stay on the sidelines, a trait that Robin adored, the pirate’s daughter supplied the missing information without skipping a beat, waving the serving spoon for the mashed potatoes in lieu of a handshake. 

“I thought I recognized that crooked smile, you must be Killian’s little girl.” Regina glanced over to Zelena and the two had some sort of silent exchange that had Robin a bit suspicious. 

“Don’t know about little, but I’m definitely Killian’s daughter. How do you know my papa?” Grabbing a roll to complete her plate, Alice waited patiently for everyone else to finish loading up their own plates. Robin saw her left hand disappear and almost jumped when she felt warm fingers setting upon her knee. Peering sideways, the archer could just make out a coy grin on the bright blonde’s face.

“Your father and I met when I arrived in the New Enchanted Forest to help Henry. Though initially a suspicious character, I have to say he is much more likeable than the original Captain Guyliner.” Regina began digging into what Robin assumed was probably her first sit-down dinner in quite a while, alternating bites of food with sips of wine. Alice’s fingers crept up a bit further on Robin’s thigh, drawing circles with her left hand while she ate with her right. 

“Agreed, Nook is much more tolerable.” Zelena chimed in as she poured her sister another glass.

“Nook?” The aforementioned pirate’s daughter looked around confused, her eyes landing on Robin, withdrawing her hand and bringing it up to the table level.

“New-Hook. Nook. It’s a thing my mom and aunt do to keep them straight in their heads.” Robin shrugged, cutting off a bite of chicken and skewering it with her fork, pretending she wasn’t flustered. She didn’t realize she’d never told Alice what they called her father, but to be fair, they rarely called her papa by name when conversing at the cottage. Alice seemed to accept this response and went back to her dinner, a comfortable silence settling over the table. Robin was battling valiantly with the small blaze the portal-jumper had kick-started, consciously having to push away the sexual thoughts that kept popping up. 

“Nobin!” The bright blonde’s sudden exclamation surprised the entire table, Robin’s injured arm jerked backwards on instinct towards her bow and she let out a yelp. Rubbing her shoulder, she gave Alice a questioning look. That was one way to kill Robin’s mood.

“What’s Nobin?”

“You are!” Alice said it in a matter of fact manner that made Zelena laugh.

“No, I’m not.” Robin countered.

“Aren’t you named after the first Robin Hood?” Alice pointed to the archer with a forkful of caramelized carrots.

“So?” Robin had a notion of where this was heading.

“So? That makes you _New Robin_ , _Nobin_!” She punctuated her decree by shoving her carrots in her mouth with a grin. Robin groaned.

“Yeah, don’t call me that.” The archer tried her best to sound annoyed, but a part of her was warmed at the idea of Alice giving her a nickname, no matter how uncool.

“I like this one, Robin!” exclaimed Regina, apparently loving the fact that Alice was able to poke fun at Robin without incurring her wrath. Zelena whipped her head to the side, eyeing her sister.

“What do you mean this one? You’ve met others?” Robin froze, fully aware that her mom was about to go into a mild jealousy-rage mode. Before her aunt could answer, Robin cut in.

“Mom, it’s not like I took anyone to her house or anything. There were a few times when I ran into her at a tavern. A couple of times she sat with me and … whoever I was with at the time. Never like a girlfriend or anything. Promise.” The building tension dissipated for the most part, her mother sitting back down from her half-raised position, huffing a bit as she gathered up her utensils again. Robin was praying Regina didn’t mention how she found out Robin was gay. 

“Well there was that one time I walked in on you and…what was her name? Mallory? Melanie?” At her aunt’s words, Robin felt three pairs of eyes shift to her. She inspected her mashed potatoes, making little plow rows with her fork in the remains of her dinner.

“Melody.” 

“That’s right! Melody!” Regina bent toward her sister and Alice, allowing Robin to try to mentally escape from one of the more embarrassing tales of her life in the Land Without Magic. “So, there I was, minding my own business, looking for a book about building codes for gazebos in the Storybrooke Library. I take the elevator up to the third floor and who do I find half-dressed, pressed up against the home and family management section? I was shocked! Not because it was a girl who had her pinned, frankly I had suspected that little detail for quite some time. But in the library of all places! She and I had a long talk about appropriate places to undress after that.” Leaning back as she drained her wine glass, Regina let out a hearty laugh that was echoed by the curly blonde to Robin’s right. Slim fingers returned to Robin’s thigh, giving it a light squeeze. 

“You make it seem like we were on display! We were in a corner!” That was all her brain could think of as a rebuttal, and she knew it was a dumb one. After the day in the library, she never could find her dark blue school polo and had to buy a new one with her own money to avoid explaining to her mother why she’d lost it.

“Wait, Melody? The same Melody you used to gush about as a child? Ariel and Eric’s kid?” Zelena inquired, standing to start collecting the dishes. Robin followed suit, grabbing Alice’s plate and dropping an absent kiss in her unruly locks, the Wicked Witch’s daughter ignoring the little coos coming from her aunt across the table.

“Yes, mom. That Melody. Now can we change the topic? I don’t think Alice appreciates it.” 

“Don’t stop on my account! I like hearing about your teenage antics.” The realm-hopper flashed a cheeky smile and dodged a light-hearted swipe from her archer. 

“Thanks babe, real help you are!” The endearment slipped out so easily that Robin didn’t notice until she saw the funny look Alice was sending her way, her brow raised and mouth in a smirk. Robin felt her cheeks heating up and quickly turned away to help clear the island, preferring to confront her mother’s questioning gaze over that of the girl she may or may not be falling head-over-heels, punch-drunk in love with. 

She’d never loved anyone before. Yeah, she loved her mom and aunt, and her cousins she supposed. But real love? Snuggling after sex love, going on romantic trips love, settling down in a house with kids and a dog love. Spending the rest of your lives together love. Never. 

So the idea that this wild woman who lives in an idyllic cabin filled with trinkets from crazy adventures all over the realms could maybe perhaps love her back was absolutely terrifying. The only thing worse would be that she didn’t. 

Robin felt her mother’s curious stare as she began rinsing off the dishes, aware that she had spent the last few minutes drifting off into mental space, back to the little cottage in the woods she was hoping to call home soon. Alice and Regina were exchanging stories of their respective adventures in Wonderland, laughter and chatter becoming background noise to her daydreams of the events of the past week, hands working without thought. 

She grew up hearing all about True Love from anyone even close to the Charming bloodline, her cousin Henry being the most annoying about it (well second most, Snow could go on for _hours_ ). She learned a long time ago to avoid anything even close to the word love around that side of the family, especially after she figured out that she liked girls because there was no way she was going to endure another “Have hope!” speech from her kind-of cousin. But the past week or so was a game-changer. Robin was starting to understand what Snow meant when she said she’d felt a spark the first time she encountered David. 

From the very first glimpse of the bright blonde, Robin had to get accustomed to a near-constant tug in her chest, pulling her closer and closer to that tiny cabin’s front door, like a fishing line reeling her in. She’d attempted to ignore it, that lasted until the next time her mother showed up outside her room, package in hand. She’d tried to replace her with more than a couple faceless women she picked up at the taverns, each one a stone weighing her down, lifting away only when she was within sight of the pirate’s daughter. 

“Robbie dear? You wanna join us back here on the ground? You’ve been washing that plate for the better part of five minutes.” A slim hand came into Robin’s line of sight, stilling the barely soapy rag held tightly in her own. 

“Oh, sorry Mom. Just … thinking is all.” Robin handed over the now rinsed plate and spun around to lean against the counter. She noticed Regina and Alice must have wandered off together while she was spaced out, a fact she was trying very hard to not panic over. Sliding her hands along the lip of the counter, Robin mustered up a bit of courage. “Mom? Have you ever been in love? Like real true love? I know Aunt Regina had Daniel and then … but have you?”

Zelena carefully set down the dishrag, and sidled up beside her only child, mirroring her stance. She was silent for a few moments, long enough that Robin was sure she’d messed up in asking her mother something so _personal_. Theirs was a relationship built on mutual respect for one another’s boundaries; they shared things with one another, mostly superficial, but both had their secrets and her mother rarely liked to talk about anything that happened before Robin was a year old. A large inhale was the archer’s only indication Zelena was even considering opening up.

“Yes. I was in love once. True love.” Her mother fiddle with a loose thread on her dress, a habit Robin certainly inherited. “I’m sure you’ve heard stories from those around town, especially the holier-than-thou Charmings. Stories about Hades and how he killed your father. They’re true, for the most part. But what everyone seems to forget is that I loved Hades. I truly did. He saw me in a way most never could, and some still can’t. As a real person with feelings, not just some wicked villain to be defeated. We made plans to live happily together, to run away and raise you knowing the wonders of the fields of Oz and the fresh mountain air of Olympus. But… life happens. People turn out to be what you always knew deep down they were.”

Robin dropped her head sideways onto her mother’s shoulder and grabbed her hand softly. “I’m sorry, Mom.”

“Nothing for you to be sorry for my little green bean. There’s no rule that says True Love can’t also be destructive and Hades was one of the most destructive people I’ve ever met. He couldn’t help but ruin anything in his path and I couldn’t let him ruin you or this world.I couldn’t bear to lose my sister, so I did what had to be done. All I need to be happy now is you and Regina. Everything else is just extra. In the end, I made my choice and I would do it again.” Zelena shifted to wrap her arm around Robin, giving her a gentle squeeze. 

They stood that way for a couple minutes, Robin letting her mother’s words sink in. She’d known about Hades killing her father, Aunt Regina had gotten drunk one night when Robin was around fifteen and ranted about how unfair it was that Hook (not Nook) was brought back from the dead but not Robin Locksley, the man who sacrificed his own immortal soul to protect Regina from Hades. But no one had ever clarified why her mother had been so willing to follow Hades’ plans, not in so many words.

“Enough of this sappy nonsense, let’s go see if your girlfriend is any good at charades!” Zelena broke their embrace before Robin could rebuke her mother for so casually throwing around the G-word, something Robin herself hadn’t even said aloud yet, let alone in front of Alice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's another chapter coming soon after this one. 
> 
> And yes, I didn't answer how Zelena knows Nook, only because Alice hasn't thought to ask yet. She assumed that her papa trusts Zelena and is a friend, and is okay with leaving it at that. Plus she's distracted ;)
> 
> Second Note: I've decided to end this one here, with a possible follow up or epilogue of sorts.


End file.
